The Academy Days
by katie3
Summary: For those who are just coming in: Jim's in the Academy. Doppler has a nephew. Silver's in jail. And, gasp, nobody is in love with Jim!
1. A Happy Boy With Lots of Friends

Okeedokee, this is my first TP fanfic. . . and Jim won't be falling in love! He's still free for all of you crazy obsessed fangirls. . . Mar. Heh, no, I kid. Not just Mar. All of you. 

Fangirls: "YEEEEE!!!! JIIIIM!!!"   
  


*****   
  


Jim didn't really know, didn't really want to know, what was going on back at the Benbow at this particular moment. No, it was best not to think about the chaos, lest he spontaneously combust. The Benbow had been a complete madhouse ever since B.E.N. and Morph had moved in, and Doppler's visits now included four small children and his smirk-filled wife, Amelia. Not that Jim minded any of them; truth be told, he loved them all. Not that he would admit it to any of them. His mother, fine. But, "I love you, Doc"? No, maybe some other time. Uh-huh. Thanks. 

At the Interstellar Academy, Jim was fitting in nicely. Wonderfully! Just fiiine. Well, having gotten that lie out of the way. . . Jim was alone most of the time. He had made a few acquaintances, but no friends. He was at the top of the class, and, for the first time in his life, considered the nerd of the class. 

"Suck-up Hawkins got another A, Dan!" 

"'S'matter, Hawkins, didn't get that 105% on the test like you'd planned?" 

"Going out tonight, Jim? Yeeeah? Bringin' a friend? Oh, right. . . sorry. Guess I forgot about that one little thing. . ." 

Jim had no friends. Jim had no crowd. Jim had no one. He did frequently exchange letters and postcards with the Benbow crowd, as he fondly referred to them as. Especially Dr. Doppler, who wanted to know how everything at the academy was going and if Jim was learning anything interesting. Jim always relied to the post promptly. "Such a good little citizen, I've become. . ." he muttered to himself as his pen ran across the paper quickly and neatly.   
  


Well, some people at the academy liked Jim. His professors were quite happy with him. "A few more years of this, James, and you'll be a captain earlier in your life than the best student of my career!" Jim had asked, out of curiosity, who that student was, and was pleased and surprised to discover that the professor had been talking about Amelia.   
  


Jim never mentioned Treasure Planet to anyone. Doubtless it would have increased his popularity with some and decreased his credibility with others. Every time he thought of Treasure Planet a smile tugged at his mouth and a tear came to his eye. Of course, he quickly wiped them both away, each in their own fashion. It wouldn't improve his situation if he was caught crying.   
  


Going to his next class (coincidentally, pre-astrophysics), Jim thought about his situation some more. He could do less in class, get lower grades, to put him in the majority, but he pushed that option away. With his record, he couldn't afford to do less than, well, stellar. He walked into his class and sat down at his desk. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He sat up again quickly and read the blackboard, which usually held the day's lesson plan. Today it read: 'Guest Lecturer: be prepared to take notes.' Jim sighed, pulled out some parchment, and closed his eyes again, waiting for whoever was coming to walk in.   
  


Waiting, he started thinking about nothing in general. The thoughts moved to himself again. He wasn't unhappy at all, now that he thought about it. He had always been pretty much alone before now, and he would be able to be alone again. He sighed, and heard the classroom door open and close again, then some shuffling of papers, obviously the speaker's notes. 

"Jim, my boy! Good to see you!" 

Jim sat bolt upright in his seat to look at the source of the voice at the front of the room. "Doc?!" His face split into a grin. "Doc, what're you doing here?"   
  


"Well, Jim, I received an invitation to come lecture at the Interstellar Academy, and jumped at the opportunity. I couldn't wait to see the place again!"   
  


"Hey, Doc, that's gr-- waitaminnit, 'See the place again'?"   
  


Doppler smiled secretively. "Well, Jim, I never told you, because I don't like to brag, but my above-average grades and superior intelligence got me a free ticket into this wonderful learning establishment! Now, why don't you take your seat? I can talk to you later, if you like."   
  


Jim nodded, still smiling, and sat down again, this time sitting up straight and listening attentively. Doppler wrote the subject of the lecture on the board and Jim struggled not to laugh out loud. 'BLACK HOLES'.   
  


*****   
  


Okay, there wasn't a lot of action there. Forgive me; I promise that more will come up in later chapters, and a fancharacter that (gasp!) isn't a female that Jim falls in love with!!! Shock!! 


	2. Doppler's Talk With Jim

Happy things in this chapter! Whee!  
  
*****  
  
After Doppler's lecture, Jim went to lunch, then had an hour of free time afterward.  
Doppler stayed for lunch and they talked, remembering and reminiscing. Doppler told Jim about  
his family, Jim's mother, and how the Benbow was doing. Jim talked about how he missed all of  
those things. Doppler listened sympathetically.  
  
"I just don't really feel like many people are going to. . . open up to me," said Jim  
dejectedly. "Nobody seems to know where I'm coming from, you know?"  
  
Doppler considered Jim's words while pushing the food in his dish around, and replied  
reassuringly, "Jim, my boy, you'll find that when somebody worth talking to comes along, you'll  
know. If you don't seem to fit in here, it doesn't mean that you don't fit with them. It's that they  
don't fit with you."  
  
Jim smiled down at his plate. "Thanks, Doc."  
  
"My pleasure, Jim. And you know, if you want to peak some people's interests, why not  
try something that they can relate to a bit more than academic superiority?"  
  
Jim paused, his hand holding his glass of water stopped halfway to his mouth. "You don't  
mean. . . You *can't* mean. . ." He started to show a grin of disbelief. "Doc, you didn't bring it,  
did you?"  
  
Doppler sipped his water in mock nonchalance. "Out in my carriage," he said formally,  
hiding a smile.  
  
Jim jumped up from the table obviously itching to run outside. "Doc you're serious   
can I?!" Doppler nodded and let the smile out.  
  
Jim laughed out loud and rushed through the halls past two groups of students and one  
bewildered teacher. He paused at the carriage pasts and scanned for Doppler's. He then realized  
that he wasn't looking for Doppler's carriage from Montressor; Montressor was a long way away,  
a week on a ship at least. He proceeded to look into the carriages furtively, hoping nobody  
noticed him. Finally he saw it. A very long, very large, flat object was wrapped in brown paper  
with brown twine tied around it. There was a letter on top, slipped in under the twine. Jim saw  
his name written neatly on the envelope and any previous doubt was gone. Jim slid the letter out  
from under the twine and tore it open. He read eagerly. /p  
  
'Dear Jim,  
How are things going? We're all very proud of your last report, and we miss you very  
much. We would say that the Benbow is quiet without you, but we'd be lying. B.E.N., Morph,  
and the Doppler children are providing all of the noise that you took with you, and more.' (Jim  
smiled at this.) 'However, your teachers have all reported one concern: your lack of enthusiasm  
when it comes to making friends.' (Jim's smile disappeared.) i 'We all decided that you need  
something to take your mind off of school for a while, Mister Over-achiever. Be sure to tell Dr.  
Doppler 'thank you'.   
Love, Mom and everyone at the Benbow.  
  
Jim folded up the letter. He couldn't believe it was really true. It was true: You never knew  
what you had until it was gone. He suddenly whirled around as he heard Doppler approaching.  
  
"Nothing stops you, eh, Jim?" chuckled Doppler. "It's your old one. I stopped by the  
impound lot with my hopes low, but they still had it after all these years." He considered. "You  
know, they seemed glad to be rid of it, actually. Said it was taking up space in storage."  
  
Jim lifted up the brown package, then set it down again. "Gimme a hand, Doc?"  
  
"Of course, Jim! Always happy to be of assistance. . ." He came up next to Jim and lifted  
one end of the package. When they set it down, Jim tore open the paper and stood back, tears  
suddenly streaming down his face. His old solar surfer blinked cheerily up at them in the sun.  
"Doc. . . *thank you*, Doc. . ." He used the back of his hand to wipe the tears away and sniffed.  
  
"Ah, Jim, don't mention it! Just be sure to write a nice letter to your mother. By the way!. .  
." He looked down into his pocket, taking his eyes off of Jim. "I've got a note from your  
headmaster. He wants to talk to " Doppler looked up again with a folded slip of paper in his  
hand, to see only the brown paper on the ground. "-- you." He looked up and saw Jim, already a  
speck in the sky. ". . . But it can wait." He slipped the paper back into his pocket and walked  
back inside the Academy.  
  
*****  
  
Hey, how 'bout that? Jim got his solar surfer! I wonder what wonderful happy magical  
adventures he'll find on it?! And what could Doppler want?!! I JUST! DON'T! KNOW! Wait. . .  
yeah, I do. Huh. Well, don't worry. Maybe Silver will show up, hm? (Doppler = best character  
ever!) 


	3. On Main Street: The Good, the Bad, and t...

Woo! Finally, the action! Or, eh, semi-action. Um.  
  
*****  
  
Jim couldn't believe how much he'd missed solar surfing. He wasn't sure he'd even be  
able to remember how, but as soon as he began rising higher and higher, he remembered. He rose  
as high as he dared, and then let the rockets shut off. He began his first free-fall in at least a year  
and a half. It was wonderful.  
  
The Interstellar Academy was on a highly-populated planet; much of it was cities and  
towns or settlements. The academy was in the middle of one of the largest cities on the planet.  
Needless to say, it was crowded, and people were always out. Jim was hardly aware of them as  
he fell.  
  
Then he noticed them.  
  
"Ohhh, SHIT!" Jim realized that he wasn't in the deserted canyon/quarry that he was so  
used to. Jim was about fifty feet from the ground. He opened his solar sail instantly and dropped  
to street level before it caught the sun. Women screamed and children laughed as he flew past  
them, not much more than a blur. Jim was frantic. He would have to maneuver his way until the  
end of the street, when he was sure he would be able to rise again without crashing into a  
building or machinery. He leaned toward the center of the street and seemed to be doing fine,  
when suddenly a large crane loading cargo dipped into his path.  
  
"WOAH!" cried Jim as he dropped his sail again. The solar surfer dipped and the back  
end clanged noisily on the cobblestone street. As soon as Jim passed the crane he opened the sail  
again. The solar surfer rose up from the street. Suddenly a small ship flew directly across Jim's  
line of flight. Jim turned left rapidly into an alley, and gasped in horror.  
  
He hadn't turned into an alley as he'd thought; he had turned onto Main Street. Main  
Street, Jim thought wildly as the solar surfer screamed down the narrow road, reminded him of  
the spaceport Crescentia back on Montressor. There were arches spanning across, machinery of  
all kinds loading and unloading cargo, merchants, arrivals, departures- which was all well and  
good, but made for the most difficult flying that Jim had ever experienced. He dropped under two  
arches, swerved around a boom lifting a load of crates, pulled quickly up over another arch with a  
group of people walking across, and nose-dived past six stories of buildings, down seventy feet  
to street-level. As the buildings and people flashed by, Jim could hear angry shouts, more  
terrified screams, and, surprisingly, a few loud cheers and whoops of encouragement. He pulled  
up after the last arch on the street, finally certain that he could rise without crashing into the  
architecture. He breathed a sigh of relief, glad that nobody (particularly himself), had been hurt.  
  
Once clear of the city, Jim checked his watch. He realized that his hour of free time after  
lunch was half-over. He quickly closed the sail of his solar surfer and rocketed back toward the  
academy.   
  
When he returned, he managed to carry his solar surfer to a spot behind the main hall  
where he was fairly certain it would be left alone. He figured that it wasn't against the rules to  
have it in his possession. Dr. Doppler had brought it to him, after all.   
  
He returned inside the school and began to walk to his dormitory when a voice called  
from behind him, "Ah, James!" Jim stopped, recognizing the voice of his headmaster.  
  
The headmaster, referred to either as 'Sir' or 'Professor Bonhomme', looked to be of the  
same species as Captain Amelia, though perhaps with a bit more of John Silver's stocky,  
masculine build. He had wide shoulders and stood straight at all times. He had black hair and  
thoughtful olive-green eyes. There was an imposing air about him. Jim stopped in the hall and  
turned to face him, quickly standing at attention, afraid of what was coming. Could Bonhomme  
possibly have found out about. . .? "Sir?"  
  
"James, I need a word with you in my office, if you pleased," said Bonhomme. He  
frowned at Jim's horrified expression. "What's the matter, my boy? Oh, don't worry, you've  
done nothing wrong!" he added quickly. Jim let out a sigh of relief.   
  
"Right. . . sorry, Professor. Sir. Ah yeah, of course I'll come." He followed Bonhomme  
to the office in the architectural center of the school. Once they had entered, Bonhomme told Jim  
to wait for just a moment. Jim then noticed Dr. Doppler sitting in the corner reading a thick, old-  
looking book. He glanced up at it, noticing Jim.   
  
"Oh, hello, Jim." He snapped the book shut and put it on the table next to him. Jim  
noticed a large display of maps next to Doppler's chair. He stared at it, fascinated by the  
collection of metal spheres. Most were of varying shades of bronze, somewhat like the map to  
Treasure Planet. There were, however, two or three silver ones and a single golden one, slightly  
larger than the others. As he looked at the maps, each one marked with a label of what it lead to,  
Doppler and Bonhomme talked quietly. One label caught Jim's eye. It was the name of a place  
he'd only ever seen in history books.   
  
"Huh," he muttered to himself. "'Earth'."  
  
"James!" called Bonhomme. "James, would you mind coming over here for a moment,  
please? You've only got, ah. . ." He pulled out a pocket watch and squinted at it. "-fifteen  
minutes."  
  
Jim pulled his gaze away from the collection of maps. "Yes, sir?" He stood up straight  
again.  
  
"James, we've all noticed your tendency to. . . remain on your own," said Bonhomme  
solemnly. Jim stifled an exasperated sigh. Would they never get off his case about this?  
Bonhomme continued, "We're having a new student coming in, just about your age." Jim knew  
where this was going. It was all too obvious. "So we were wondering, we as in the other  
professors and I, if you would mine sticking around with him for a bit? Showing him what the  
Interstellar Academy is all about?"  
  
Jim went through an internal battle right there in Bonhomme's office. It would be the  
right thing to do. It would be annoying. He'd be helping out. He'd be giving up his privacy. The  
pros and cons were uncountable. Jim shifted his weight on his feet.  
  
"James. . .?" asked Bonhomme, waiting for a response.  
  
"Yeah. Yeah, okay," replied Jim sullenly. He could hardly believe he was agreeing to  
play babysitter for some new socially-challenged kid. Then he stopped and sighed, realizing that  
he had been that kid less than a year and a half ago.  
  
Doppler gave Jim a thumbs-up behind Bonhomme's back. Bonhomme smiled warmly at  
Jim. "Good lad, good lad. I knew we could count on you, James." He turned to Doppler. One of  
our top students, you know. Very proud of him."  
  
Doppler smiled. "So I've heard. Well, it's been a pleasure meeting you, Professor  
Bonhomme, but I really must make my way back to my family. They're staying at an inn on Main  
Street." Jim's eyes bulged. It was unlikely, but. . .  
  
"I understand, Doctor. Thank you for visiting! The students enjoyed your lecture."  
  
Jim's mind was still stuck on the fact that Amelia and the kids were staying on Main  
Street. Amelia couldn't possibly have seen him. . . right?  
  
*****  
  
Oooh, I dunno, Jimbo. . . . 


	4. Amelia's Chase and the New Student

Yay! I have people demanding more! *throws confetti* FINALLY, I'M NEEDED!!!  
  
*****  
  
Amelia was feeding her two of her four children in the Doppler family's room at the inn on  
Main Street. "Heeeere comes the great big solar galleon! Open wide!** She made whooshing  
noises as she moved the spoon around in front of her brunette daughter, Adrienne, who managed  
to giggle with her mouth clamped shut, gleefully refusing the pureed food. Amelia frowned.  
"You're going to starve yourself like this." She then smirked. "I. . . gotcha!"   
  
She firmly pinched the kitten's nose shut. Adrienne resisted for a moment, holding her  
breath, then finally opened her mouth in a wide gasp of air. Amelia used the opportunity to stuff  
the spoon in the child's tiny mouth. Adrienne refused to swallow, but again couldn't breathe.  
She frowned at her mother. Amelia smirked again. "I'll let go as soon as you swallow, Love."  
Adrienne's frown darkened, then she submitted and swallowed the spoonful of food. Amelia  
removed the spoon. "There now. . . wasn't so hard, w-" She suddenly stopped as she heard  
screams outside the window. She picked up the two children that weren't in the crib and ran to  
the window to see what the cause of such a commotion was.   
  
"Oh!" She gasped as something flew past the window, moving too fast to see. Amelia  
jumped backwards into the room, shocked. She quickly recovered, put the two children into their  
crib with the others, and ran to the window again. She looked out to see what looked like. . . but  
it *couldn't* have been. . . could it? Amelia squinted at the blur, but still wasn't sure. . . She  
looked over her shoulders at her children, who were all staring at her, obviously confused.  
  
"Don't worry, dears, Mummy will be *right* back!" She looked out the window again,  
set her jaw, and leapt out onto Main Street from the window.  
  
The fifth-story window.  
  
Amelia clenched her teeth as she dropped down twenty feet and grabbed the rope of a  
ship heading the same direction as- well, what *could* be- Jim Hawkins on his solar surfer. She  
clung to the rope tightly as the ship gained on the blurred figure. Suddenly it dipped under an  
arch. The ship intended to go *over* the arch. Amelia was headed straight *for* the arch. "Ohhh,  
bloody HELL!" yelled Amelia, frustrated. She let go of the rope quickly and fell fifteen feet down  
onto a bridge spanning the street from building to building. The blurry figure flashed away and  
Amelia lost any doubt of the fact that it was indeed Jim Hawkins.  
  
"I *told* Delbert that he should have left it at home," she muttered to herself angrily. She  
then looked around and saw her window, forty feet up and several hundred yards away. She  
sighed and looked down to the street, a thirty-foot drop. "Ahhh, just *lovely*." She began to  
scale the architecture and make her way toward the window again.  
  
***  
  
Back at the academy, Jim was laying on his bunk. He held a book open above his head  
and was reading silently, caught up in the story. He didn't notice as the door opened. Nor did he  
notice when someone stepped quietly inside.   
  
Jim sniffed, scratched his nose, and turned the page of his book. The person who had  
come in quietly made their way up next to Jim's bunk. They leaned down, putting their face near  
Jim's head. Jim still took no notice; the book was thoroughly exciting. They waited for a moment  
for Jim to notice them, but he did not. Finally the figure grew impatient enough to draw Jim's  
attention away from the story. "Ahem."  
  
"YAAHH!!!" Jim shouted in surprise. He jumped out of his bunk, and the book dropped  
to the floor, the pages fluttering quietly. The person who had entered the room backed up a step.   
  
"Sorry! Sorry. . . just. . . they told me to, uh, to come in here. Are you, um. . . Jim  
Hawkins?" the stranger asked apologetically.   
  
Jim eased up and straightened his shirt. "Yeah. . . that's me. Are you the. . . the new  
student?" He looked at the guy's face and did a double-take. The guy was about his age, just as  
Bonhomme had said. Jim hadn't known what he expected the guy to look like, but this wasn't it.  
He was the same species as Dr. Doppler. He was tall and skinny, as was usual for the species,  
and his hair was tied back. Jim smiled.  
  
"They're going to make you cut that, y'know." He pointed at the boy's small ponytail.  
  
"They wouldn't!" gasped the new student, outraged. He grabbed the ponytail defensively.  
Jim laughed and pointed to the spot where his own had grown.  
  
"Wouldn't they?" He grinned broadly. "This isn't any public school. They've got rules. . .  
here. . ." Jim frowned. What was he doing? His little speech sounded like every tirade that he'd  
ever received from the cops. His face softened. "Look, I'm sorry. But. . . I just thought you could  
use a fair warning."He extended his hand for a shake.  
  
The new student's upset look dimmed into one of gratefulness. "No problem." He took  
Jim's hand in his own and gave it a firm shake. "The name's Aaron. Aaron Doppler."   
  
"Wait, wait. . . Aaron *Doppler*? You. . . you're related to. . ."  
  
Aaron grinned. "Uncle. Uncle Delbert. He's told me about you. Said you were really  
*fascinating* and that I'd like you. He mentioned that we had a lot in common, but he didn't say  
what. He got all excited because Aunt Amelia came into the room and. . ." Aaron started  
laughing. "He gets weird around her y'know? And. . . and, uh. . ." He noticed Jim's disbelieving  
smile. "What?"  
  
Jim laughed. "Doc never told me he had a nephew! Or brothers or sisters! Jeez, and I  
thought I kept to myself. . ." He chuckled again. "Well. . . I guess we're going to spend some  
time together from now on, huh?"  
  
Aaron was still obviously a little uneasy. "Yeah. . . I, uh. . . I guess we are." He looked  
around the dorm room, then his face suddenly brightened, like he'd just remembered something.  
"Hey, did you hear about that idiot that solar surfed down Main Street?!"   
  
*****  
  
Crap! A fancharacter! And I swore I wouldn't. *hangs head in shame* (I'll have a picture of him  
up soon!) 


	5. Headlines

Okay, guys. . . . PLOT DEVELOPMENT!! YAH!!! (I am so professional about this whole thing.)  
  
*****  
  
Jim walked down the hall, hands stuffed in his pockets, whistling to himself. His fist was  
clenched around a pass to go discuss his grades with the counselor. Jim was being commended  
for outstanding grades with an award, and couldn't help but whistle loudly as he walked back to  
class. He got deeper into the song and closed his eyes and rocked his head back and forth. If he  
had known it felt this good to do well in school, he would have started a long time ago.   
  
As he made his way along, he suddenly collided with someone. His eyes shot open and he  
quickly apologized as he felt his face turning red. "Sorry! Sorry! I swear, it was an-" he stared at  
the woman standing before him, arms crossed behind her back and chin tilted ever-so-slightly  
upward. "-accident," finished Jim. He plastered a nervous, fake grin on his face. "C-captain, er,  
Mrs. Dop- um, Mrs. . . Ma'am!" he exclaimed lamely. He had bumped into Amelia.   
  
"Afternoon, Mister Hawkins!" said Amelia, an evident smirk on her face. "Keeping. . .  
busy, are we?"   
  
Jim looked down at the pass in his hand. "Oh, yeah, I'm working hard. . . keeping out of,  
uh, trouble, y'know. . ."  
  
"Is that so?" asked Amelia quietly. "I trust you received the little gift the doctor brought  
you?" Jim tried to read her features. Had she seen him that day on Main Street? It was impossible  
to tell. Jim swallowed nervously.  
  
"Ye-yes, Ma'am! It was very. . . very nice of him to bring me. . . uh. . ." Jim blinked at  
her. "What?"   
  
Amelia squinted at him, trying to hide her smile, though it was obviously still there.  
"Well, Mister Hawkins. . . I was merely curious because I've heard that quite a few hooligans  
have been making their way around on solar surfers, lately. One of them even had the gall to  
(would you believe it, Mister Hawkins?) solar surf right! Down! Main Street!" She accentuated  
her speech with little plucks of her right hand. Jim took a step backward.  
  
"You, uh, you don't say?" asked Jim. "Heh, well, I sure wouldn't. . . I wouldn't. . . no  
way I would, um," he finished. He thought to himself, **Yeah, she's really gonna believe you  
now, buddy.**  
  
"Hmm. 'S'at so?" asked Amelia, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Well, I thought you  
might, ah, be interested in *this*." She whipped out a copy of the local paper, the Etherial  
Dispatch. "Right, ahem, right there, Mister Hawkins," she coughed a bit, gesturing at the front  
page. Jim scanned it, looking for some photo that showed him clearly. He saw none; there wasn't  
even a small note about it. Jim looked at the date and read that it was today's paper.   
  
"Uh. . . Ma'am? Ame- ma'am?" asked Jim. Amelia looked at him, not saying a word. Jim  
continued, "It's. . . today's paper. They probably won't have anything on me- er, on the person,  
anymore." Amelia looked hard at Jim.  
  
"My mistake," she said, without blinking. "Well, Mister Hawkins, I must get back to the  
inn." She turned and began to walk away.   
  
"Wait!" Jim stopped her. She paused in her stride. "Don't you want your paper back?"  
Jim held up the paper questioningly, and shrugged.  
  
Amelia blinked at the paper and at Jim. "No, I think you should. . . look it over. A-  
*hem*lookatthesecondpage," she coughed pointed. Jim stared at her, head tilted to one side,  
showing his confusion. She smiled then. "Well! Must be off! Until the next time, Mister  
Hawkins. Keep up the good work!" And with that, Jim knew that she wouldn't stop even if he  
asked her to again. He looked down at the paper in his hands.  
  
As Jim walked back to class, he opened up the paper and started flipping through it. He  
then remembered Amelia mentioning the second page. He went back to it, and looked at the titles  
of the articles, muttering them to himself as he went along. "Scientist jailed for illegal genetic  
experiments. . . Solar sail technological advances. . ." His eyes drifted to the bottom, seeing  
nothing of real interest on the top. "Infamous pirate jailed. Huh." Jim scanned the article.  
  
'. . . Police had caught up with the pirate approximately fifty etherial miles from the Cygnus  
Cross. . .' '. . . was found carrying his possessions in a battered longboat. . . believed to have  
come from a solar galleon. . .' '. . .was heard to say, "We've been looking for Silver ever since an  
inquiry was put in-"' Jim stopped instantly, and gasped in shock. He read the article faster than  
he thought he'd ever read anything before. When he finished, he looked up, completely at a loss  
for words.  
  
"They caught him," he said quietly to the empty hall. "They caught Silver."  
  
*****   
  
WOOAHH CLIFF-HANGER!!! And it's short, I know. But now you know that Silver will show  
up. Did you catch the 'Lilo & Stitch' reference? *wink* 


	6. We Could Do It

Note: Thank you to DragonWolf for correcting my spelling of 'Cygnus Cross'. I am ignorant.  
Yay. *bows*  
  
*****  
  
Jim's mind was reeling. He walked into his classroom completely in a daze. He handed  
the teacher his pass and sat down silently. A few in the class snickered at him, but most simply  
ignored him. He was already thinking about the horrible conditions Silver was probably under.  
He probably didn't get to see the sun very often. . . he probably didn't get a lot of space to move  
around. . . True, the guy had betrayed Jim, but he had also saved his life, and had basically been  
the father that Jim needed.   
  
"Mister Hawkins! Had your attention been focused on the classroom, you may have noted  
my question. . ." but Jim was already lost again. He nodded at the professor and mumbled his  
apologies, but could not concentrate on classes for the rest of the day.   
  
***  
  
". . . and then she handed me this newspaper-" (Jim waved the paper in Aaron's face,) "-  
and she was going on about how someone had been caught solar surfing down Main Street and I  
thought for *sure* she'd seen me! I still don't kn-"  
  
Aaron started laughing and jumped down off of the bunk above Jim's. "That was *you*?!  
Why didn't you say anything about it earlier when I mentioned it?!"  
  
Jim frowned at the interruption. "I didn't *feel* like it, ya nerd." He playfully pushed  
Aaron onto the bunk. "Now shut up. I've gotta think about this."He began pacing again. "So then  
I see the headline on the second page, and I read this article, and Silver's been jailed! I didn't  
think they'd catch him, but-"  
  
Aaron broke in again. "Wait, why do you care about Silver? He's just some old pirate,  
and he'll hang soon enough. Nothing to worry about." Jim's mouth dropped in horror.   
  
"I had completely forgotten about his sentence! Oh, jeez, they're going to *hang* him!"   
  
"Woah, wait! Again: Why do you *care*?" asked Aaron.   
  
Jim stopped pacing, and looked at Aaron, wondering if he should tell him about the  
journey to Treasure Planet. Obviously Doppler hadn't said a word about it (which was  
surprising), or Aaron would know how Jim knew Silver. "I. . . I met him a while ago. . ."  
  
At this Aaron perked up. "No way! You knew an infamous guy like Silver?! Man, and I  
thought I had something with Uncle Delbert being in the paper a few times. . ." Jim vaguely  
wondered how much research Doppler had actually done when he hired the crew for the Legacy.   
  
"Yeah. . . he. . . he wasn't such a bad guy. Not like everyone always makes a pirate out to  
be," said Jim, the worried look on his face increasingly evident. "And they're going to hang him.  
. . unless. . ."  
  
"Pfft! Unless *what*?" asked Aaron while laughing. "Unless we go on a little rescue  
mission? Right, sure, *that's* really likely." He then leaned back on the bunk with his arms  
crossed behind his head. "Looks like Silver's in trouble, Jim. I can only tell you to not worry  
about it." Jim saw him open one eye. "Hey, are you okay?"  
  
Jim was smiling at Aaron. "We could do that."  
  
Aaron sat up. "We could what now?"  
  
"We could *do* that!" said Jim excitedly, and once again resumed the same pacing path,  
much more eager now. "We could bust Silver out! Seriously! We could do it!"  
  
"A-hah-hah, Jim, buddy. . . I think you're a great guy for sticking around with me, and I  
know you're easily one of the smartest kids here at school. And if you can solar surf down Main  
Street and avoid getting caught -well, except for aunt Amelia, but she sees everything- then  
you're good. Very good. But Silver's going to be heavily protected by guards and electric  
surveillance equipment and any number of other things, and nobody is *that* good."   
  
". . . We could do it."   
  
Aaron stood up. "I know humans can't hear as well as us, buy you can't be *that* deaf!  
Did you not hear a single word I just said?"  
  
Jim looked at him. "I heard 'You're good.' That's all I need to hear." He walked over to  
the window in the dorm and looked out into the etherium. "I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it,  
but I'll need help." He looked at Aaron challengingly. "Are you in?"  
  
"You idiot. . ." muttered Aaron. "I can't believe you're going to go through with this!  
You're going to be killed, or put in prison, and *then* you'll just be killed a bit more efficiently  
and officially!" He walked around the room, waving his arms to illustrate how strongly he felt  
about this, much in the same fashion as Doppler would. "Are you insane?! Do you know what  
you're going to have to get through to get this cutthroat pirate out? It's ludicrous! It's complete  
insanity!" He stopped walking, and turned around to face Jim. ". . . Of *course* I'm in!"  
  
***  
  
The next few days were the most hectic of Jim's life. While he and Aaron balanced their  
schoolwork, at night and during meals they would make plans, formulate ideas. They did  
research on the security of the prison Silver was being kept in, on a planet far from most  
habitable ones, near the Madrigal Nebula.  
  
"Okay," said Jim eagerly to Aaron after three days of this. "So we've got our excuse out  
of school-"  
  
"I ask Uncle Delbert and Aunt Amelia to pull us out because of a family emergency-"  
  
"-and I ask my mom for the same thing," finished Jim. "Mom and Amelia are going to be  
hard to get it out of, but I bet if we ask Doc to pry enough, he'll convince them." Aaron nodded.  
Jim continued, "We need a ride to the place-"  
  
"-which we will get on the Legacy!"  
  
Jim nodded. "Exactly. We'll need Amelia to come, and if Doc comes it'll be that much  
better, because he can keep her happy enough. Mom can watch their kids," he added. "But I don't  
want her coming."  
  
"Gotcha," said Aaron. "Perfectly understandable."  
  
"But the problem is. . ." said Jim, frowning, ". . . the problem is, we have no idea how to  
get Silver out once we get there. And then, assuming we get him out, we have to escape. The  
Legacy was made for long journeys, not fast escapes."  
  
Aaron frowned, and his brow creased in thought. "What if we docked the Legacy on a  
nearby planet and got a smaller ship to go into the prison on?"  
  
Jim's face lit up. "See? You're a natural at this 'breaking the law' stuff! I'm so *proud of  
you*!" He lifted his pillow off of his bunk and hit Aaron, who was bent over, reading a copy of  
the paper, in the back of the head.  
  
"Oof!" Aaron blinked, and recovered. "I wasn't ready for that, you jerk!" He kicked at  
Jim's feet for a moment in an attempt to trip him. Jim jumped out of the way. Aaron gave up and  
went back to reading.   
  
"I just wanna get *going*!" said Jim, exasperated. "We've got enough time; the trial isn't  
even for two weeks, and then who knows how long Silver's got until the sentence is carried out?  
But the sooner the better. I hate waiting." He looked out the window, the old scowl that he wore  
so much when he was younger. "Who knows what they're doing to him out there?"  
  
*****  
  
Ooooh. . . . . I have nothing interesting to say. 


	7. What've You Been Up To?

You want Silver? I give you Silver.   
. . . So much Silver do I give.   
  
*****  
  
Silver whistled quietly to himself sitting in his cell. The guard walked past and shot Silver  
a contemptuous look, then spat into the cell and moved on, muttering to himself. Silver didn't do  
much except stare pitifully out of the bars at the guard as he walked away. He sighed and leaned  
back against the cold wall.   
  
Silver had been wandering the nearer half of the galaxy, finding odd jobs here and there.  
People were either fascinated by him, or suspicious of him. Usually, though, he could convince  
the suspicious ones that he didn't mean any harm. Often enough, he wondered if that was really  
the truth. Silver had a cunning streak within him that he would never be able to fully douse.  
  
"Johnny boy, ya got yerself into a spot o' trouble here now," he said to the ceiling.  
"T'ain't lookin' too good for ye."He shifted uncomfortably, feeling horribly off-balance. His  
cybernetic limbs had been disabled, and he had just barely been able to talk them out of shutting  
off his right eye. He looked down at the useless arm and leg, and noticed the patch where Jim  
Hawkins had struck it with the kitchen utensil a good year, maybe year and a half before. "Ah,  
Jimbo, if yeh were on'y here now to see ol' John. . ."  
  
***  
  
Doppler listened to Jim sympathetically, nodding and "Hmm"-ing whenever the story  
provided a space for such. Finally, as Jim finished explaining about Silver being put into prison,  
Doppler found his voice.  
  
"Well, Jim, I know that you found something in Mr. Silver that most people would not. . .  
*could* not see. And I understand that you must be quite distressed over this whole thing, but  
Amelia has already told me all abou-"  
  
"No, see, Doc," interrupted Jim, "We were wondering if you'd. . . y'know. . ."  
  
Doppler stared at Jim for a moment. Aaron fidgeted nervously in the seat next to Jim.  
Doppler did not speak a word for a bit, his gaze unwavering. "Jim. . . you don't mean. . ."  
  
Jim glanced at Aaron, then nodded. "Yeah, Doc. I-"  
  
"Oh, *Jim*!" cried Doppler, leaping up from his chair. Jim suddenly found himself in a  
tight embrace, being nearly crushed by Doppler, who had pulled him up and wrapped his arms  
around him in a hug. "Jim, I'm so honored that you've come to *me* for comfort in your time of  
need! I'd always tried my best to be a good friend to you, but I'd just never felt like you'd opened  
up to me and-"  
  
"Woah! Easy, Doc!" Jim pulled out of Doppler's hug. "That's not what we came here  
for! It's. . . uh. . . nice of you to offer, but. . ."  
  
Doppler's face turned bright red. "Oh! Of. . . of course it wasn't! Ha ha! I was joking,  
Jim! Yes!" He then sat down without another word, and folded his hands in his lap calmly. He  
was the picture of dignity, save the remaining bright-red tint of his face. "Now! (Ahem), what did  
you want to ask me? Tell me? Let me know about?"  
  
"Well. . . Doc. . ." began Jim, not sure how to go about this. He thought for a moment  
about the best approach to take on this to appeal to Doppler. "Doc. . . we know that you've got a  
that great, uh, adventurous spirit," he began again (Doppler suddenly looked quite pleased with  
himself), "And we were wondering if you could help us out with something. . . just a little thing.  
Y'know. . . no big deal."  
  
"Well, of course boys!" said Doppler, self-importantly. "What do you need?  
Recommendation for research? Advice on an essay you're writing for school? Or maybe-" he  
stopped suddenly, and stared at Jim, mouth hanging slightly open. "You aren't talking about. . ."  
  
"A-heh-heh. . ."  
  
***  
  
He had been working in the kitchen when they had caught him. Of course, in this kitchen  
(not a homey galley, either, and Silver was none too pleased by that), Silver was not the cook. He  
was there to sweep up the peelings and mop up the drippings and scrub the dishes. It was not  
work he minded, but it was not work he enjoyed, either. The problem was that blasted cook.  
  
  
The cook thought the world of his food and of himself. If it wasn't his cooking, it wasn't  
the best. Silver knew that it really wasn't important. . . didn't concern the likes of him. . .  
absolutely not. . . and yet. . .  
  
"Yeh'll be wantin' to add a bit more pepper there, now, Laddy," he mentioned  
conversationally to the cook, as he moved along with his trusty mop. "Pinch o' pepper, and  
p'raps a wee bit o' solaris seed, if'n the customer prefers the taste."  
  
The cook turned around, a look of outrage on his face. "I beg your pardon?!"   
  
"I was on'y offerin' a humble vet'rans opinion on-"  
  
"How *dare* you?! A lowly. . . lowly. . . CABIN BOY such yourself has *no right* to  
even suggest that I am not doing my job properly!"  
  
"See here, now, I was on'y-"  
  
"Not another word from you, sir, or I will see to it that you lose your job *tonight*!"  
  
Silver stopped talking. He couldn't afford to lose this job. But, oh, how he wanted to put  
that cybernetic arm of his to good use right then. . .   
  
***  
  
"Alright! Well, Jim, if it's that important to you, I'll do what I can!" said Doppler after  
Jim and Aaron had explained the plan. "After all: what else have I got to do? Of course, Jim, I  
don't want to burden your mother with my children," he added sternly. "Only if she agrees. Of  
course I'll be happy to pay her for it, and you make sure she takes what I give her; your mother  
has never accepted much of anything from me, but this is something I'd really like her to accept."  
  
Jim nodded. "Yeah, Doc, whatever you say!" He couldn't believe it had been this easy.  
Well, no, he had expected this to be easy, but he was glad that he had been right. "But, uh, do  
you think Am- eh, Mrs. Doppler will go along with it?"  
  
Doppler (smiling a bit at the sound of 'Mrs. Doppler'), replied, "Well, Jim, don't you  
worry about her." He chuckled knowingly. "She's a bit more tame now that she's settled down  
with a family. . . and a husband. . . heh heh. . ."  
  
***  
  
"Absolutely not."  
  
"Please, dear? Pleeease?! Jim and Aaron *need* you, and you haven't been on a voyage  
in such a long time-"  
  
"Delbert, darling, this isn't a voyage, this is a *suicide* mission," Amelia cut in hotly.  
"Doubtless we can take the two young men out of school, and even get into the prison, but the  
idea that we will risk both of our reputations, both of our spotless records. . .! Well, mine may  
have a few blurs here and there, but-"  
  
"Amelia, please, listen to reason," pleaded Doppler. "Knowing Jim, he's going to go  
whether he gets our help or not. And then he'll go to Juvenile Hall for a year and a few months or  
so, and then he'll turn eighteen and will no longer be a minor. . ."  
  
"And he'll be in prison, just as Silver is now," finished Amelia. "I know, Delbert, but. . ."  
she looked up. His head was rested in his hands, his nose pointing to the ground, the picture of  
pitiful despair. Amelia sighed. "You, sir, are turning me into a sympathetic, no-authority, sorry  
excuse for a captain."  
  
Doppler looked up, a smile on his face. "Oh, my dear, do you mean it? You'll come?"  
  
Amelia leaned her head back and shut her eyes, hardly able to believe she was saying this.  
"Yeeess, I'll do it." She then stood up. "But *I* am to be the voice of authority. *I* will give the  
orders, *I* will run *my* ship. Is that perfectly clear?"  
  
Doppler nodded eagerly. "I'll go and sign us a crew right n-"  
  
"Ohhh, no ya don't!" interrupted Amelia. "I'll be hiring the crew in this round, despite  
your *fantastic* judge of character the first time 'round."  
  
Doppler smiled embarrassedly. "Of course, dear."  
  
*****  
  
I KNOW THE CHAPTERS ARE SHORT LEAVE ME ALONE. FROWN FACE.  
  
I kidding. I do know the chapters are short, but I get impatient. I can understand why  
Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a chapter a day for 'Treasure Island'. 


	8. Launch the Legacy

Oh, man! I completely forgot the copyright stuff in my other chapters!! PLEASE DON'T SUE  
ME, DISNEY!!! I SWEAR I DIDN'T MEAN TO!!! All characters (even Aaron; you can have  
him! just don't hurt me!) are copyrighted to Disney and they are the creative masterminds, not  
me! I suck! Really! *bows to the corporate machine that is Disney*  
  
*****  
  
"HEEEY, it's the doc! How ya doin', Doc?" cried B.E.N. as he opened the door of the  
Benbow Inn. He continued quickly, "So, where're the kids, Doc? Got 'em with ya?" He poked  
his head out the door as Doppler tried to babble out a response. B.E.N.'s neck extended to an  
absurd length as looked around either side of Doppler.   
  
"Eh, no, not today, B.E.N.," Doppler finally managed to get out. "I just came by to speak  
to-" He suddenly saw Sarah Hawkins back further in the room. "Sarah!"  
  
"Aww, no playtime, today, huh?" asked B.E.N.. He glanced sideways at Morph and  
whispered dramatically, "Doc's gettin' cranky in his old age-"  
  
"I beg your pardon?!"   
  
Sarah came up quickly behind B.E.N. "B.E.N.! Why don't you go see if there's anything  
for you to do in the kitchen?"  
  
As B.E.N. shook his head, Sarah and Doppler both noted an audible rattling sound  
coming from the robot's cranium. "NOPE! I got all the dishes cleaned, the pots scrubbed, the  
floor swept-"  
  
Sarah cut him off quickly. "Alright! Okay, *thank you*, B.E.N.! Delbert and I are just  
going to have a talk and-"  
  
"Oh, I'd LOVE to stay right here and listen in, Mrs. H!"exploded B.E.N. happily.  
"Thanks so much for the offer! You're always so polite!" He turned to Doppler and said, in a  
conversational tone, "That's what I like about Mrs. H! Always got a smile on her face and-"  
  
"B.E.N.!" shouted Sarah. She then forced that smile he had been talking about, though  
through her clenched teeth it appeared to be more of a grimace. She managed to press out,  
"Thank! You! B.E.N.! You've been *wonderful* help, but now I think that you deserve a bit of a  
*rest*!" She looked at him pointedly.   
  
B.E.N. looked at Sarah, thoughtful. He rubbed his chin in concentration, then replied,  
"THERE YA GO AGAIN, BEIN' SO *NICE* AND SO *SWEET*!!!" He suddenly clasped  
both hands together and looked upward, his eyes quickly filling with 'tears'. "Awww, it's so  
GOOD to feel LOVED!" He then wrapped his arms around Sarah's shoulders and began to sob  
uncontrollably. She looked up at Doppler, exasperated.   
  
"This is the third. . . time. . . today. . ."  
  
***  
  
A few moments later, B.E.N. had been calmed down and Sarah and Doppler sat at the  
usual table near the window. The holo-blinds were left turned off, due to the fact that it wasn't  
currently too terribly dreary. Doppler spoke solemnly to Sarah.  
  
"Now, Sarah. . . this is about Jim." Sarah's face showed no emotion at his mention, so  
Doppler continued. "He's doing fine in school; magnificently, in fact! But a problem has arisen."  
  
Sarah's face still showed nothing. Doppler squinted at her, wishing for some sort of  
reaction. Well. . . he could do that. . . "Sarah, Jim found out that the cyborg cook and pirate that  
he had befriended on the voyage to Treasure Planet is now in prison and they're most certainly  
going to have him hanged if we don't break him out of said prison so Jim has asked me and  
Amelia to ask you to let him leave school so that we can go on a possibly futile and certainly  
dangerous rescue mission that may likely land us all in jail." He gasped for breath as soon as he  
had finished (and was somewhat amazed that he hadn't stumbled at all during his little speech).  
  
Sarah simply stared at him.  
  
"Good GOD, Sarah, what do I need to say to get a response out of you?"  
  
Finally, Sarah responded, "Amelia sent me a letter last week, Delbert. I've already  
agreed." She struggled to keep a straight face, but couldn't quite conceal her laughter.   
  
Doppler slapped his forehead in exasperation. "Of course you have. . ."  
  
***  
  
Bonhomme stared up at Amelia, something of a scowl on his face. "And you're taking the  
boys out of school. . . why?" To show how little he thought of her, he continued scrawling  
aimlessly on a sheet of parchment, only glancing up at her every now and then.   
  
"Well, *Reggie*," answered Amelia, purposely using the nickname that Reginald   
Bonhomme had despised ever since their days together at the Academy, "Family emergency, I'm  
afraid." She smirked at him, triumphant. "And you really can't *keep* them in school, if their  
legal guardians feel that they should be taken out." She tapped the forms signed by Sarah  
Hawkins and Aaron's parents on his desk knowingly. Bonhomme frowned at them, then up at  
Amelia.  
  
"Listen, *Captain*," he said with a bit of a sneer, showing an entirely different side of  
himself than he presented to Doppler a few weeks before, "I am the boys' headmaster. If I should  
choose not to excuse them-"  
  
"-Then you will be inspected by the school governors," finished Amelia matter-of-factly.  
"No question about it." She leaned down with her elbows on his desk simply to annoy him.  
"Wouldn't want *that*, now would we?"  
  
Bonhomme stood up, quite angry, as well as frustrated, due to the circumstances. He and  
Amelia had been rivals of the most intense sort when they had both been attending the Interstellar  
Academy, constantly battling it out in academia and in physical contests. Neither had won a clear  
victory, but Amelia had gotten the profession that *both* of them had wanted. Bonhomme glared  
at Amelia for a moment, then finally muttered, "Excused." And with that, he turned around to  
face the opposite wall and, Amelia supposed, to stare at his diplomas for some childish sort of  
comfort.   
  
"Oh, and Reginald?" she said quietly, as she opened the door to leave. Her tone was so  
different that he turned around and stared at her inquisitively. She smirked again. "Can't *wait*  
to see you at the next reunion!"  
  
"OUT!"  
  
***  
  
"Well, boys, we're meeting the doctor halfway between here and Montressor, at a small  
spaceport just outside of the Nomadic Straight," explained Amelia as both Jim and Aaron carried  
their packs slung over their shoulders, both slightly disbelieving. It was hard to accept that this  
was actually happening, and that they were actually doing something about Silver's arrest.   
  
Amelia continued, walking slightly ahead of them towards the dock, "We will meet him  
in three days. From thence we shall be continuing on to the Madrigal Nebula, in which we will  
dock the Legacy, discharge the crew for the interim, and obtain a small, fast vessel." They  
reached the Legacy in dock and Jim could hardly believe he was seeing it again. It had some new  
additions, likely bought with a bit of 'help' from Doppler. The engines and thrusters had  
increased in size considerably, and the sails gleamed, obviously new.   
  
Amelia looked up at the Legacy and smiled approvingly. "We shall discuss the remaining  
plans once we have reunited with the doctor." She began to walk up the gangplank and Jim and  
Aaron followed behind, quite excited.  
  
"Why does she call him 'the doctor'?" whispered Jim.   
  
Aaron shrugged. "Guess it makes her feel more. . . authoritarian. At least right now.  
When I visit them at their house she always calls him 'Dear', 'Darling', or 'Delbert'. I go crazy  
with all the D-names flying around." He laughed a little. "They are the *weirdest* couple, I  
swear. . ."  
  
Amelia turned around to face them suddenly. "This will not be a luxury voyage,  
gentleman! You are to report to the first mate immediately for your assigned positions."  
  
Jim and Aaron gaped. Jim finally managed to find his voice. "What?! You can't be  
serious! Look, Mrs. Do-"  
  
"On this ship, Mr. Hawkins," interrupted Amelia, "you will refer to me as 'Captain' or  
'Ma'am'." She smirked. "As I'm sure you remember *perfectly*."  
  
Jim sighed, even now reluctant to obey the order, which he considered a bit outdated.  
"Yes *Ma'am*." He stood up straight. Aaron, watching him, copied his posture. Amelia nodded  
at them both approvingly and walked into the stateroom. Jim and Aaron slouched casually again  
as soon as she was gone.   
  
"So I guess we find the first mate," said Aaron, looking around, distracted by the crew  
preparing for launch. The riggers and ropers were hard at work on the sails, and the specialists  
were milling about their posts, checking equipment diligently.   
  
"Guess so. . ." replied Jim, looking around. He soon spotted a somewhat official-looking  
alien, standing tall as he observed the crew. He had several medals pinned to his chest and had an  
all-knowing air about him. What threw Jim, however, was his species.   
  
The first mate hired by Amelia was of the same race as Jim's worst enemy thus far in life,  
Scroop. Judging by the medals that Jim had noticed, he was a perfectly respectable spacer, honest  
and admirable as they come, but still, the subconscious fear was there. Aaron noticed Jim staring  
at the mate and then looked in the same direction. "So there he is, huh?"  
  
"Yeah. . ." muttered Jim. "Yeah, there he is."  
  
"Alright then!" said Aaron, excited to find out what his assignment was. "Let's get to it!"  
He walked toward the first mate eagerly, doing his best to look ready for whatever the mate threw  
at him. Jim followed behind quietly.  
  
The first mate looked down at the both of them, not saying a word. Jim and Aaron stared  
up, both uncomfortable. He was quite intimidating, standing at least nine feet tall and dressed in a  
crisp, navy-blue uniform. Suddenly on his face a small smile appeared. "I take it you two fine  
ladsss are Mr. Hawkinsss and Mr. Doppler?" His voice was deep and raspy, just as Scroop's had  
been, but it held all the warmth that Scroop's had lacked.  
  
Aaron relaxed, but Jim was still reluctant to warm up. Aaron replied, "Yeah! That's, uh,  
that's us!" He looked at Jim, and saw that he was refusing to look the arachnid-like officer in the  
eye. He nudged him. Jim looked at Aaron, then slowly up at the officer. "Yup," was all he said.  
  
The first mate seemed to take no notice of Jim's cold attitude. "Well, boysss, I've heard  
quite a bit about both of you! Essspecially you, Mr. Hawkinsss!" He smiled at Jim. "Both of you  
appear to be fully capable of handling yourselvesss aboard a sship! Ssso, you will both be  
asssisting the specialistsss whenever they may need anything. For example, you may be assked to  
read off coordinatesss or clean the laser cannonsss." They both nodded at him and responded  
with a 'Yessir' each. The first mate nodded approvingly.  
  
"You may call me 'Ssir', or 'Mr. Merriss'," he said to both of them as they stared up at  
him "Though, in all honesssty," he added, "I prefer the latter. Much friendlier, don't you think?"  
Both of the boys nodded. Jim was still a bit cautious, but this Mr. Merriss really did seem alright,  
despite what any other members of his species may have been like.   
  
Suddenly Amelia's call sounded from the bridge. "Mr. Merriss! Please prepare the crew  
for launch!"   
  
Merriss nodded and replied, "Aye, Cap'n! Asss you please!" He turned to Jim and Aaron.  
"You boys bessst be keeping out of trouble during the launch. Ssstay near the bridge and asssist  
anyone who asssks you." He then scuttled toward Amelia on the bridge and shouted to the whole  
crew, "PREPARE FOR CASSST-OFF! ALL CREW, TO YOUR SSSTATIONS!"  
  
Aaron and Jim watched while keeping out of the way as much as possible. Suddenly one  
of the riggers, a dark-red lizard-like alien, shouted at Jim in a thick accent from his position up  
on the cross-mast. "'Ey! You zere! You tie off zat rope, ya? No, zee long one! Ya!" Jim quickly  
tied down the rope to its particular notch and looked up at the rigger, who nodded approvingly,  
and then continued about his work.  
  
Jim looked at Aaron. "I think I'm starting to get this." Aaron nodded, but was suddenly  
called away to help lock one of the laser cannons down into its below-deck position. Jim's  
excitement from his first launch on the Legacy had returned. As he stood on the deck watching  
Aaron attempt to pry down a huge latch for the cannon, his thoughts drifted to Silver, and how  
they were going to go about getting him out of prison. It was only a-  
  
***  
  
"-matter of time until his sentence is carried out," said one guard solemnly to the next that  
was coming in to take his shift. Silver listened forlornly. His spirits had fallen considerably after  
the trial a few days ago. The trial had hardly even been necessary; it was obvious that the jury had  
already decided Silver's fate before he had even stepped into the courtroom.   
  
"If on'y I had just kept *movin'*," he muttered to himself. One of the guards looked at  
him sternly, but there was also a fair amount of pity on his face. That guard, Silver had taken a  
liking to. Name was O'Malley and he hardly had a cruel bone in him, bless his heart. Unlike the  
cook that had ratted Silver out a short while ago. . .  
  
Silver had been up to his usual mopping after the other employees had left. All of the  
employees except (of course) that blasted cook, who was adding some spices to a huge slab of  
meat that he would be using as the special on the menu tomorrow. The stuff looked about a week  
past its prime, but Silver wasn't about to make a comment after his small suggestion about  
pepper had almost cost him his job. As Silver made his way around the kitchen with the mop,  
humming to himself, he noticed the cook's newspaper lying on the counter near the bag  
containing his change of clothing for when he left for the night. The headline horrified Silver.  
  
'Inquiry About Perilous Pirate Silver Made At Constable HQ'. There was a small picture  
of Silver, his golden mechanical eye flashing (though it was silver in the black-and-white print),  
on the front page. Silver gaped in horror at it. He was about to dump the thing in the nearest  
wastebin when suddenly the cook's voice came from behind him.   
  
"Oh, yes, see that headline?" The cook walk past the mortified Silver and picked up the  
paper in two of his tentacled hands as the third rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Apparently this  
pirate, Silver, and two of his chums had been giving the constables quite the trouble! Then they  
just seemed to disappear. Huh!" Silver couldn't believe that the news had reached this little  
outskirt planet. The central planets of the empire were a few weeks' ride away from here, and the  
only ships that ever came out seemed to be a few lonely groups of spacers looking for a place to  
put up for the night or a solitary supply ship. Well, the supply ships obviously supplied the news,  
as well as food. Silver's thoughts were broken as the cook continued. "This was quite the rough  
lot, it seemed! They had a big arachnid fellow as the muscle, apparently. . . That whole species is  
trouble, if you ask me!"  
  
Silver chose to withhold the comment that he had not, in fact, asked the cook anything of  
the sort. He simply nodded and added his, "Mm-hm"s to the conversation as they were needed.  
He kept his face blank and turned away from the cook; he also made sure to keep his cybernetic  
eye shut tightly. He only hoped that the cook wouldn't notice that-  
  
"Now wait a minute!" said the cook suddenly. Silver winced at stood up a bit straighter,  
still attempting to hide the obvious. "You two. . ." continued the cook, "Seem quite similar!" He  
looked down at the paper and then back up at Silver, who was standing there doing his best to  
keep his nervousness hidden. The cook continued. "In fact. . ."  
  
Silver suddenly prepared to switch his arm into the flintock, should the need arise. If this  
bloody nearfight was about to say what Silver thought he was. . .  
  
"In fact. . . you could almost be *brothers*!" exclaimed the cook. Silver could have  
laughed out loud with relief. So the idiot couldn't even piece it together with all the evidence  
right in front of him!   
  
However, Silver forgot about his cybernetic eye for just a moment. Long enough to open  
it as he smiled in relief and replied to the cook, "Well, now, seein' as I ain't havin' any brothers  
of me own. . ." He trailed off as the cook stared at his face curiously. He stared back down at the  
picture and looked about to speak. Silver, however, was faster. "All done with the moppin' fer  
t'night, sir! Look forward to seein' yer chipper face in the morn'!" He was out the door and  
around the corner with his coat on in a matter of seconds. The cook had hardly had time to react.  
  
*****  
  
I'm suggesting my personal favorite TP fic as of late, 'Dark Corner of the Etherium', by  
WeAsLeYkid8, because it is REALLY GOOD. It is funny and well-written and GOOD. It  
deserves more reviews than it's getting! Please go read it! I'ma get down on mah knees and BEG  
if I have to! That's how good it is! Over and out! 


	9. More Than One Reunion

Yeeeah, I'm not forgetting the copyrights this time! Hah! I own none of the characters. If  
it's in this fic it was inspired or created by Disney. I's not makin' monies from it.  
  
Another note: In the movie they call it the Interstellar Academy. In 'Jim's Journal' they  
call it the Astro Academy or the RGAA. So. . . I have no idea which you prefer, but I'm going  
with the movie in the fic, just because I assume most of the people reading this have seen the  
movie, rather than simply read 'Jim's Journal'. And if you've read 'Jim's Journal' but haven't  
seen the movie: A) That's kinda weird, and B) . . . okay, I've got no B.  
  
*****  
  
Delbert Doppler paced nervously at the docks, waiting for the Legacy to put into port. He  
had said his good-byes to Sarah, B.E.N., Morph, and his children several hours ago and had then  
caught the next ferry to Crescentia. He was anxious to get going and not enjoying the wait. He  
thought to himself as he paced.  
  
'Did I pack my- yes, okay, I did. I wonder if I forgot- no, got that. . . good God, Delbert,  
you're as bad with thoughts as you are with words.' He continued his quick circles, when all of a  
sudden he heard a whistle from above him. He looked up and grinned brightly.  
  
"HEEEEEY, DOC!" shouted Jim from the Legacy as it swooped grandly overhead. He  
and Aaron waved down at Doppler, then the Legacy was past. It make a smart turn and pulled  
gently into its dock.   
  
The crew laid the astral anchor that kept the solar galleon from sliding out of port, and  
had the gangplank put in place. Doppler quickly made his way up it, eager to see Aaron, Jim, and  
Amelia. Mostly Amelia. Alright, so he didn't care if he saw Jim and Aaron right away. They  
could wait.   
  
As soon as he spotted his catlike wife, he made his way to her, swerving and dodging  
various crew members at work. He came upon her and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting  
her up off of the deck and swinging her around. "Oh, my dear, I *missed* you, it's so good to  
*see* you, I could hardly-"  
  
Suddenly Amelia was no longer in his arms. He blinked for a moment at the empty space  
he seemed to be embracing, and then looked up to see the captain chuckling at him. "Save that  
for later," she said with a smirk. Doppler blinked again, then a look of realization came upon his  
face, and smiled nervously.   
  
"Intercourse. . inter. . . OF course, Captain!" He stood up straight suddenly. "You must remain  
in your position as authority on the ship! I understand completely!" He nodded and watched the  
crew finish with the sails. He realized, after a moment, that he didn't see Jim or Aaron. "Amel-"  
He caught himself. "Captain, where'd the boys get off to?"  
  
"Off helping someone or other, I assume," replied Amelia curtly, smiling at Doppler's  
attempt to remain all-business after her little insinuation. "Perhaps in the galley helping the cook  
or the sick bay rechecking the longboats. They may even be roaming about Crescentia, stretching  
their legs a bit. They have my permission to do so, of course."  
  
"That's giving them an awful lot of freedom, wouldn't you say?" asked Doppler, a bit  
surprised.  
  
"Oh, I think they can handle themselves. They know that we're leaving port at eleven-  
hundred hours, sharp. That gives them approximately. . ." She pulled out a pocket watch and  
glanced at it. "Half an hour."  
  
***  
  
"When are we leaving port, again, Jim?"  
  
"I dunno."  
  
***  
  
Jim and Aaron arrived forty-five minutes later, soon enough to see the very angry Amelia  
impatiently pacing the deck and Doppler watching nervously. As Jim and Aaron ran up the  
gangplank, they were laughing and joking with one another, obviously having enjoyed their brief  
time on Crescentia. Then they noticed Amelia's face.  
  
They stopped laughing.  
  
"Uh, h-hey, Captain!. . ." Jim said nervously.  
  
"That's 'Captain, ma'am' to you, neophyte!" snapped Amelia. "Late arrival is intolerable  
on this ship! I won't have you two-"  
  
"Uh, Amelia, dear-" Doppler interrupted meekly. Amelia whirled around and glared at  
him venomously. He took an involuntary step backwards. "Alright! Er, never mind! Finish what  
you were saying!"  
  
Amelia quickly turned around, a dark look on her face. Jim and Aaron instantly and  
instinctively stood at attention. Amelia began her tirade. "I would have expected better from two  
cadets in the academy!" She began pacing again as she talked to them. "The doctor and I have  
put our good names at stake for you, Mr. Hawkins, to rescue some common *criminal*! One, I  
might add, that carried out a mutiny on myself and this very ship, and then threatened all of us  
with murder! You should consider yourself lucky that I am even *considering* taking on this  
ridiculous assignment from a boy no older than seventeen!" She stopped pacing and stared at the  
two boys, who were both doing their best not to bolt instantly. "Is. That. *Clear*?"  
  
They both nodded, and Jim managed to get out, "Aye, Captain!"   
  
Amelia narrowed her eyes at him.  
  
"Captain, ma'am!"  
  
She nodded. "That's more like it. Now! My stateroom, immediately!" She glanced at  
Doppler and nodded. "You too, Doctor!"  
  
"Aye, AmmmmMa'am!" Doppler nodded and followed quickly behind her, with Jim and  
Aaron tailing him.   
  
As soon as they were all paying close attention to Amelia, she began to speak. "Alright,  
gentlemen. . ." she passed her eyes around the room, stopping at each of them. "This is going to  
be tricky. Which is, perhaps, why I'm doing this. I'm a bit tired of the everyday tedium of  
escorting merchant ships through some abandoned area of space that a *supposed* pirate was  
sighted in more than a decade ago."   
  
All three nodded. Amelia nodded back. "So long as we understand each other. Know that  
I am perfectly willing to put an end to this voyage. . . this *madness*. . . at any moment." Jim  
and Aaron nodded. Doppler simply watched the exchange as they waited for Amelia to speak  
again.  
  
"And now. . . we must discuss exactly *how* we are going to go about this. . . lunacy."  
She stared at Jim. "I trust, Mr. Hawkins, that you will have some suggestions for us?"  
  
"Yeah, we uh. . . we talked about it some." Jim nodded and shrugged.   
  
"Alright. As you all know, we'll be reaching the Madrigal Nebula where we shall change  
ships in approximately one week. From there, we shall head straight to the prison, and attempt to  
assist the criminal in an escape, of sorts. What concerns me, though, is the steps involved in  
doing just that. We can get into the prison easily enough, and even get to the cell in which Silver  
is being kept. . . but getting him out will be the difficult obstacle."  
  
"Well, we figured you and the doc would distract the guards. . ." said Jim, glancing at  
Aaron for support. Aaron nodded as Jim continued. "And I could get the lock code while you  
were both doing that. . ."  
  
Amelia frowned. "The electronic surveillance and alarms?"  
  
Here Aaron jumped in. "We figured I could do that. Y'know, bug the system, or wipe it  
out altogether." He shrugged. "Might as well put some of that technical training to good use."  
  
"I would hardly call this, 'good use,' Mr. Doppler."   
  
Aaron looked embarrassedly down at the floor. "Oh. . . yeah. . . I guess not. . . but, uh-"  
  
Amelia cut him off with a sharp sigh. "Never mind that. We *will* need you, if we want  
to avoid being locked into that wretched place ourselves." She rubbed the bridge of her nose as  
though a headache of massive proportions was coming on. "This is certainly going to be  
*interesting*. . ."  
  
***  
  
Two days into the voyage, the Legacy hit an asteroid belt that had been unexpectedly  
thrown into the line of their voyage as the result of a red giant changing into a sun nearby,  
drastically shifting the gravitational pull on said asteroid belt. Jim and Aaron were put to the test  
that day.  
  
"FORGET THE ACADEMY!!!" yelled Jim as he worked feverishly to keep the energy  
flowing properly into the plasma cannons. He was quickly getting covered in plasma discharge  
and grease. "A FEW MORE VOYAGES LIKE THIS AND WE'LL KNOW EVERYTHING WE  
NEED!!!" The roar of exploding asteroids and the raining showers of gravel from them caused  
almost enough noise to drown him out.   
  
"GOT THAT RIGHT!!!" replied Aaron distractedly. He was doing his best to hold onto  
the rigging and sort out the ropes that the crew needed to tie off the solar sails. He handed three  
up to a rigger quickly and then started making his way down to the deck. He ran over to Jim.  
"Need a hand?"  
  
"Nah, I got- OW!!!" A spark flew down and landed on Jim's arm.  
  
"Alright?"   
  
"Yeah. . ." Jim clenched his teeth and quickly swabbed away the grease from the  
swiveling cannon head. "Just a little sting."  
  
"Tell me about it. . ." Aaron held his hands palms-up at Jim, showing off his lovely new  
set of rope burns. "Man, those things slide in your hands, say, 'Bye-bye, skin'!"  
  
Suddenly the Legacy lurched with the impact of a small chunk of asteroid that the gunner,  
a three-headed Calyan, had missed. Two of the heads swivelled to look back at the crew and the  
gunner shouted out of the left, "Sorry about that!" The right one added, "I'll be more careful!"  
Both heads turned back to the asteroids and the gunner started firing with new spirits, catching  
most of the asteroids easily. Aaron and Jim turned as they heard Amelia shouting orders from the  
bridge, Doppler, reading off reports from the radar, behind her.   
  
"MR. MERRISS!!!" called Amelia. The mate paused in his work on the sails and looked  
at her.   
  
"CAPTAIN?"  
  
"BE A DEAR AND *GET US OUT OF THIS BLOODY HELLHOLE*!!!"  
  
"AYE, CAPTAIN!" Merriss quickly dropped the rope and made his way to the thrusters.  
The gravitational engineer was assigned to them, but he was currently doing everything in his  
power to keep the Legacy's crew from floating of into the etherium. He quickly readjusted the  
power intake to come from the farthest-aft sails that were left open for emergency power, and  
kicked the thrusters into gear. They sparked smartly and the Legacy pulled through the etherium,  
suddenly moving faster than any of the crew could have anticipated. Many were thrown off of  
their feet, and a good few were quite happy that they had their lifelines on tightly.   
  
Jim and Aaron ran quickly to begin pulling the few that had fallen overboard up. Several  
crew members helped, and as soon as all of the crew was back on the deck, they looked around,  
all a bit surprised that the lurching had stopped. The burst of speed from the thrusters had pulled  
them away from the worst of the asteroids, and the helmsman could easily guide the galleon  
around the few that remained.   
  
"Good work, boysss!" Mr. Merriss' slithery voice came from behind them. They turned  
around. "Where would we be without you?" He smiled at them. It was a creepy smile, true, but it  
was sincere. Jim and Aaron glanced at each other and grinned.   
  
"Thanks, sir!"  
  
"Uh- well. . . yeah! What he said!"   
  
Merriss smiled. "Keep up these exemplary disssplays, and I'm sure you'll do sssplendidly  
at the academy." He then scuttled over to Amelia and Doppler at the bridge. Jim and Aaron  
simply watched as Amelia gave what seemed to be a good deal of praise to Merriss.   
  
***  
  
"Commendable work, my man!" Amelia gave a small salute to Merriss, who simply  
nodded.  
  
"And the sssame to ye, Captain!"  
  
Doppler smiled. "As usual."  
  
Amelia smirked. "Oh, you be quiet, you mangy mutt."  
  
Doppler muttered to himself. "Eh, uppity-"  
  
Amelia whirled around. "What was that?!"  
  
"Er, uppit. . . up . . . reputable work, dear!"  
  
"That's what I thought. . ." she smirked again. "Good God, Delbert, stand up for  
yourself."  
  
"That's not what you were saying when we-"  
  
"ALRIGHT! I believe that we have some repairs that need to be attended to!" Amelia cut  
in quickly. "Let's get the crew rolling! Boys!"  
  
Jim and Aaron came closer. Both were doing their best not to laugh at what Doppler had  
been saying. Amelia noted this and frowned, but continued. "Mr. Hawkins! Mr. Doppler!" They  
both stopped laughing and stood at attention. "You two will want to get started. . ." They looked  
at her, confused. "Two acquaintances of yours, I believe, Mr. Hawkins."  
  
Jim's mouth dropped open. "No. . . c'mon. . . Captain. . ."  
  
***  
  
"Mr. Mop-" Jim thumped the mop onto the deck. "-and Mrs. Bucket." He dropped the  
bucket. It clunked hollowly on the wooden deck.   
  
Aaron looked down at the bucket, then moved his eyes up to look at Jim skeptically.  
"You can't be serious."   
  
"I am serious like Amelia on a bad day. I am serious like Doc talking about astrophysics.  
I am serious like-"  
  
"Okay, okay, you're serious! Fine!" He grabbed the mop and leaned down to pick up the  
bucket. "So. . . you want first or second shift?"  
  
"Whatever."  
  
"Fine. You go first."   
  
"Your call," Jim shrugged as he took the mop and bucket. He filled the bucket with water  
from the basin next to the storage cabin. Aaron headed off to their bunk for a quick rest, and Jim  
began the practiced motions from almost two years ago. After an hour or so, Jim was suddenly  
very lonely. Silver would not be coming up to talk to him this afternoon or tonight. He wished  
that he could look down and see Morph, a tiny miniature mop squeaking and sliding around the  
deck.   
  
He looked up to his right and muttered. "Kinda brings back old memories, huh, Morph?"  
  
Morph burbled back happily.  
  
"Yeah, too bad you're back at home with-" Jim suddenly stopped mopping. Slowly. . .  
slowly. . . he looked up again. "Morph?"  
  
Morph suddenly broke into small pieces of protoplasm, then quickly reformed into a  
miniature Jim holding a mop. "Back at home! Back at home!"  
  
Jim rubbed his eyes with one hand, certain that he was just tired from the storm. . . he just  
needed rest, that was all. . . but. . . Morph wasn't fading. "No way!"  
  
"No way! No way! No waywayway!!!"  
  
Jim laughed out loud. "Oh, man! But. . . how could you have. . ."  
  
Morph suddenly rearranged himself to look like a very tiny Dr. Doppler. "Sarah, this is  
about Jim about Jim about Jim!"   
  
"Ohhh. . . hitched a ride with Doc, huh?"  
  
Morph suddenly shifted into Silver. "Nuttin' but me heart!" He shook and was suddenly  
his gelatinous, pink self again.  
  
Jim laughed again. "So. . . I guess this is gonna be a bit of a reunion for you, huh?"  
  
Morph simply flipped once over in the air, and was suddenly a small mop. "Reunion!"  
  
*****  
  
Quoth B.E.N.: "Awww, i'n't that sweet?!"   
Sorry this took so long to get out. It was finals week at school, and of course. . . studying  
sucks. That's all I'll say. *twitch* 


	10. Volitant Happenings

Thank you, big thank you, to Vik M., who was kind enough to e-mail me and inform me  
that: 1) 'Mantavor' is the official name given to members of Scroop and Merriss' species. 2) I do  
not have any ear whatsoever for accents, and Amelia should be calling the guys 'neophytes', as  
opposed to what I had her calling them, 'nearfights'. He's also been helpful with keeping the  
characters IC. wh00t.  
  
And a huge. . . MASSIVELY HUGE. . . thank-you to all of you that have been reviewing.  
I appreciate it more than you know. Or maybe just as much as you know. Or even less! Don't  
want to underestimate you fine reviewers, after all. But anyway. . . you're what's keeping me  
writing this. (I sure you likeing my good grammr nd speling 2 huh?) So keep reviewing! Tell  
your friends! Inflate my e- oh, wait. Forget that last one. *nervous glances all around*  
  
*****  
  
John Silver whistled to himself as he sat in his cell, reading over the paper. The lyrics  
played in his mind as he scanned the headlines.   
  
"Fifteen spacers on the dead man's chest. . . hm hm hm on Proteus-One. . . hm hm pirate  
done for the re--"  
  
"Quiet in there, you!" The guard clanged on the bars noisily. Silver instantly stopped and  
looked up. He hadn't realized that he'd been humming the lyrics to the old shanty out loud. He  
nodded.  
  
"Aye, sir. Not a peep'll come outta-"  
  
"Eh, shut up, yeh bilge-swabbin' heap o' rubbish." The guard glared in at him. "I didn't  
ask fer yer shameful excuses. Just keep yer yap sealed tight."  
  
Silver sneered at the guard as he turned away. No use arguing with someone so idiotic. If  
they thought they were right, there was no convincing them otherwise. Reminded him a bit of  
that poor excuse for a cook that had ratted him out.  
  
***  
  
"You know. . ." the cook started up. Silver rolled his eyes. When this idiot started  
gabbing, it was a sure sign for biased, ridiculous remarks. The cook continued, not waiting for  
any response from Silver as the large man scrubbed at a pot. ". . . I was thinking about that  
headline that was in the paper a few days ago. . ."  
  
Silver froze his features into a blank stare. This could not be good. "Really, now?" He  
continued scrubbing at the crusty remains in the pot, but his grip on it had tightened considerably.   
  
"Yes. . . you know, you bore an awfully uncanny resemblance to that pirate." The cook  
glanced at Silver as he worked. "Now. . . I've been wondering. . ."  
  
Silver scrubbed at the pot faster as the cook talked. This was most certainly not  
something that was good to be talking about.   
  
". . . do you have any sort of. . . connections to him? Brother? Cousin? . . . Anything?"  
  
Silver cleared his throat and stared down at the pot. "Well, sir, I don't believe he's any. . .  
relation o' mine. Most certainly ain't me brother. . . nor cousin. . . never had one o' either, for  
that matter."  
  
The cook looked at him suspiciously. "Not many people have so much cybernetic  
machinery on them, you know."  
  
Silver realized that this situation was seeming very, very familiar. His mind wandered  
back to that morning so long ago. The captain had deposited a young boy, a lad no more than  
fifteen or sixteen, in his care. He had never been in charge of anyone that wasn't a full-grown  
pirate. He had assumed that the boy would be in the way all the time. . . asking why and how and  
when and what all hours of the day. . . but this lad had been sharp. He had asked questions, made  
insinuations, that Silver would have been impressed to hear from many members of his own  
piratical crew.   
  
"Just before I left I met this old guy. He was, uhm. . . he was kinda lookin' for a cyborg  
*buddy* of his. . ."  
  
Yes, Jimbo had been sharp. He caught details that other people missed. Silver sighed. He  
sure did miss that little-  
  
"I say, are you even listening to me?!" the cook asked irately, cutting into Silver's  
thoughts.   
  
Silver blinked up at the cook. "Yessir! Finish what yeh was sayin'. . ."   
  
The cook glared at Silver, then stuck his nose a bit higher in the air and closed his eyes  
slightly, as though Silver should feel privileged just to be hearing the words coming out of his  
mouth. "Hmm. . . I was simply saying that I didn't really know much about *you*. I only know  
that you are employed *under* me. And have been so for a mere week. Now. . . what was your  
name, again?"  
  
Silver snorted. What a complete. . . well. . . *ass*! It was most likely the only thing  
saving his skin, the fact that this man had forgotten his name, but still. . . the level of  
inconsideration was astounding, to say the least.   
  
"Name?"  
  
"Yes. Name. *Your* name."  
  
"Eh. . ."  
  
"You *do* know your own *name*, surely? I knew you weren't the brightest-shining star  
in the etherium, but really, n-"  
  
That was Silver's breaking point. He dropped the pot with a bang and turned to face the  
cook, who shrank down nervously. Silver took a step towards the simpering cook, who, in turn,  
took two steps backward.  
  
"That, my lad, is IT. Yeh've been nothin' but a self-righteous, show-boatin', egotistical  
whelp from the first time I set me eyes on yeh, and nothin' has changed. I gave yeh the chance t'  
warm up a bit, prid but yeh let yer confounded ego take over yer pathetic excuse fer a brain!  
There i'n't a kind thought in yeh, nor a consid'rate bone in yer body!"  
  
He picked up the small cook by the collar of his white shirt. "Am I makin' meself  
understood?" he growled lowly.  
  
The cook squeaked pathetically and nodded, using a few of his tentacles/hands to attempt  
to pry Silver's cybernetic hand off of him. Silver chuckled. There was simply no way the little  
idiot could so much as loosen a bolt on the piece of cybernetic machinery.  
  
"Ease up, now, laddy, I wouldn't think o' inflictin' the tiniest scratch on yer frail li'l self."  
Silver released the cook, who could think of nothing to say. He stood back, quaking. Silver  
simply went to the back exit, grabbed his coat off of the hook hanging on the wall (glaring over  
his shoulder at the cook, for good measure), and stepped outside.  
  
The constabulary had him in a matter of hours.  
  
Silver shifted uneasily in his cell. If he had only kept his temper, he may have been able  
to avoid imprisonment (and the inevitable death penalty) for the rest of his life. But that old anger  
had flared up in him. He shook his head and looked out of the cell. The guards were switching  
shifts, presently. They threw dark glances at Silver, each time the opportunity arose. One finally  
called to him.  
  
"Not long now, Silver! You're going to hang nice and high! Got the noose all ready for  
ya!" He and the other guard laughed heartily. Silver muttered to himself.  
  
"Yeah, yeh can take that noose and shove it up yer-"  
  
***  
  
"YAAAAHH!!!" Jim sat up quickly in his bunk, lost his balance in the hammock and fell  
to the floor with a thud. Morph chuckled and chirped happily, pleased with his handiwork. He  
had changed into Scroop once more and leered in Jim's face until Jim finally woke up. The little  
joke had achieved the desired effect, but Jim was not amused. He blinked up from the floor.  
  
"Morph. . . why do you enjoy my pain?"  
  
Morph giggled happily as Jim pushed himself up. He came to eye-level with Morph.  
"One day you are going to push me too far." He ran a hand through his hair, smoothing it out  
somewhat, and walked past the remainder of the sleeping crew. He came onto the deck and  
looked to the west at the nearest sun. Morph followed as Jim inspected the stars. "Morph. . . if  
I'm not forgetting everything I learned at the academy, it's about 300 hours." He glanced at  
Morph. "You woke me up after four hours of sleep. You are surely proud of yourself." Morph  
make a small noise of apology, but grinned.   
  
Jim sighed, leaning his back against the mast nearest to the bow of the ship. He closed his  
eyes, still quite groggy. He opened them again as he heard two voices conversing.   
  
"Yesss, Doctor. It's been a rather odd voyage, I can tell you." Jim identified the voice as  
Merriss'. He listened carefully.  
  
"Well, I can assure you, it's best that you not know its purpose," Doppler's voice  
responded. "Really would result in quite a mass of confusion and chaos, I'm afraid."  
  
"Underssstandable. . ."  
  
Jim listened to them talk. He lost interest when Doppler started rambling on about the star  
clusters and other astronomically-related things. Morph quickly became impatient with Jim's  
stillness. He made a squeak of indignation to Jim, but Jim remained silent, just resting for the  
moment. Morph flew off, leaving Jim in silence. Jim opened one eye, realizing the small pink  
blob was gone, and opened the other one quickly. He scanned the deck, looking for Morph,   
  
"Morph!" Jim hissed, trying to whisper. "Morph! C'm'ere!" Morph did not come. Jim's  
eyes darted back and forth, looking for any sign of him. "Morph?" He then caught sight of the  
small pink protoplasm, hovering a few feet in front of the captain's quarters, chirping happily.  
Jim squinted at him, trying to figure out what the little nuisance was planning. His mouth fell  
open as he realized what it was that Morph had in mind.  
  
"Morph. . . no. . . don't! Don't! No!!"  
  
Morph turned into a small Jim. "NO NO NO!!!" He mimicked Jim, then quickly changed  
back to his slightly more blob-like form. He cackled gleefully as he slid under the door and into-  
  
"Not the stateroom! Morph! NO!!" Jim looked around for Doppler and Merriss, but they  
were gone. Jim assumed that they had gone below deck for some reason or other. Didn't matter  
much to him- what *did* matter was the fact that Morph, the biggest trouble-maker on the ship,  
had just gone into the sleeping captain's quarters.   
  
Jim crept up to the stateroom door. He pressed his ear against it, listening for any  
movement, praying that Morph would decide to come out before any serious damage was caused.  
He leaned on the door, pressing his ear against it, with his eyes shut tightly in concentration. He  
strained his ears, but still couldn't hear anything.  
  
"Come on, Morph, come ouWOAH!!!"  
  
The door had suddenly opened. Jim stumbled forward into the stateroom almost  
sprawling out on his stomach. He managed to catch himself, however, and looked up.  
  
"Oh. . . no. . ."  
  
Amelia glared at him. In one fist, she clenched Morph. She wore only a long-sleeved,  
floor-length white nightgown, but was still the most intimidating authority figure that Jim could  
call to mind from his memory.   
  
"Mr. Hawkins." Amelia quaked with anger as she spoke. "Explain. Now." Morph glanced  
nervously at Amelia from her clenched fist. He could easily slide out of her grip, but he knew  
better than to try and escape her.  
  
"Uh- I was just- he- Morph, that is- I wasn't. . . I didn't do anything!" Jim cursed himself  
silently. 'My, aren't we articulate tonight?' he thought silently.   
  
"Didn't do anything," responded Amelia. "Did not do anything. . ." she chuckled, but did  
not look happy. "My. . . you certainly are the inexperienced liar, Mr. Hawkins. Rule number-one:  
make it believable." She smirked. "You failed that on the spot." She brought the hand holding  
Morph up in front of her face, and suddenly opened it. Morph quickly flew to Jim, but remained  
silent, staring at Amelia.   
  
"Captain. . . ma'am. . . it won't happen again. I swear." Jim lowered his eyes and bowed  
his head to her to show his respectful sincerity.   
  
Amelia sighed. "I have every reason to turn this ship around, you know."  
  
Jim flinched. "Yes, Captain."  
  
"And I should. My common sense, gut feelings, and instincts are all in agreement upon  
that matter."  
  
"Yes. . . Captain."  
  
"And I believe that from now on you are going to restrain that little smear much more  
carefully, or I will be forced to follow my instincts."  
  
Jim looked up, hardly believing his luck. He managed to keep his face blankly respectful,  
and nodded to her. The anger in her features faded, but the firm authority and sternness did not.  
She nodded to him (though more stiffly and curtly than he had to her), and shut the door behind  
Jim as he walked out.   
  
Jim walked along the deck, wishing he had gotten more sleep. Today was the day that  
they left the Legacy and changed ships. Soon they'd be rescuing Silver. Hopefully. If their plan  
worked out. . . . and of course that was always in question. They could talk for hours and hours,  
and the plan would still be full of holes and possibilities for error. Jim sighed and went back to  
the bunks. As far as sleep went, half an hour more was better than half an hour less.   
  
***  
  
"There she is, gents!" piped Amelia, quite chipper, considering the events of the morning  
and the circumstances in which the small group found themselves. The crew was staying aboard  
the Legacy, Mr. Merriss in charge until Amelia returned. If she did not contact him daily, he had  
been given instructions to be followed only in case of just such an event. The instructions also  
included a brief summary of the voyage's purpose and several likely possibilities of what may  
have happened to the group. Amelia trusted Merriss enough to believe that he would not read  
them, and the three men with her agreed that she had been right in her trust. Jim was hesitant at  
first, but eventually was persuaded by Aaron.   
  
Now, however, they were staring up at a small, angular ship in the port. The Madrigal  
Nebula shined brilliantly nearby to the east, glowing against the deep purple etherium. The ship's  
sails were fluttering, reddish-gold in the glow of the nebula.  
  
"Quite a different design than the Legacy," Doppler commented.   
  
"Ah, of course. This ship is made for speed. Capable of being manned by only two crew  
members, in a pinch." She glanced at Jim and Aaron pointedly. She then looked up at the ship  
again. "Quite a change from my usual escort jobs. . ."  
  
"'RLS Volitant'," Jim read off of the side of the ship. "Huh."  
  
"A worthy name," Amelia said as she nodded approvingly. Her sudden change from  
reluctant anger to gleaming excitement was enough to lift the spirits of Jim, Doppler, and Aaron.  
They followed her up the gangplank and onto the deck.  
  
'It's so *small*', Jim thought to himself instantly. 'God, compared to the Legacy it's-'  
  
"Minuscule!" Doppler blurted out. Amelia frowned at him. He glanced at her. "Er, not  
that minuscule is a *bad* thing! Heavens, no!" He laughed nervously, then changed it into a  
cough. "Perfect little vessel. Quite space-worthy."  
  
"I'm sure," replied Amelia with a small smile. She then turned to Jim and Doppler. "I do  
hope you boys have been learning during the past week."  
  
They nodded mildly to her.  
  
"Very good! Because now we are going to see how much you've learned." She flipped  
her hat over once in her hands, then quickly situated it on her head, achieving the maximum  
stateliness effect. "Raise the astral anchor, Mr. Me-" She stopped, then laughed a bit  
embarrassedly. "Silly me. . . always used to having a first mate. Ahem, raise the astral anchor,  
Doctor!"   
  
Doppler nodded. "Aye, Captain!" He stood up straight, staring at her. He did not move  
for a moment, then added, "How?"  
  
Amelia rolled her eyes. "Controls are above deck, next to our cabin."   
  
"Ah. Right." Doppler was quickly at the control room, having only to take a few steps on  
the small vessel. Amelia turned to Jim.   
  
"Well, Mr. Hawkins? Mr. Doppler?"  
  
"'Well', what?" Jim asked after a moment's pause.  
  
"The sails!"  
  
"Oh! Right! Sails!" Jim quickly took to the rigging, Aaron following his motions on the  
other side of the ships. The sails that hadn't already been down fell into place. The two boys leapt  
lightly to the deck and secured the lines tying them down. Amelia was at the helm (only one on  
this ship, as opposed to the Legacy's three), one hand kept to steer, while the other was placed on  
the thruster controls. Doppler emerged from the control room.  
  
"Astral anchor up and secured!"  
  
"Excellent. Boys?"  
  
Jim and Aaron both gave small salutes to Amelia. "Aye, Captain! Sails secured!"  
  
"Alright, men. . . we're off!"   
  
Amelia switched on the thrusters and the small ship pulled out of port sharply. Being a  
newer model, the artificial gravity switched on automatically, but there was still surprise to the  
takeoff. The sudden acceleration was enough to make even Amelia strain a bit against the force.  
Jim, Aaron, and Doppler were all thrown off of their feet. Amelia quickly lessened the power  
input from the sails, and looked down from the helm at the three others.   
  
"Sorry about that, boys! Haven't driven one of these since my academy days!" She  
laughed a bit as they pushed themselves up, then, once they had braced themselves a bit more  
firmly, picked up speed again, heading for the small prison and what they hoped to be a  
successful jailbreak.  
  
*****  
  
Slightly shorter, but I wanted to get something out. The action is going to pick up a lot more,  
fairly soon. We're gonna see stuff happening at the Benbow! Doppler in an apron! Amelia- well,  
I don't wanna give away anything else. *insert grin here* 


	11. Safety in Numbers

*pulls herself into a ball and rocks back and forth* Thank you all for the reviews!!! *falls  
out of chair*  
  
*****  
  
Sarah Hawkins was scrubbing at the pots in the sink, humming to herself. She had just  
sent B.E.N. upstairs to put the four small children to bed. Last week she would have considered  
herself insane to even wonder about doing such a thing, but B.E.N. had seemed to finally be  
grasping the basic concepts of childcare.   
  
B.E.N., meanwhile, was chuckling at the antics of the three kittens up against the one  
puppy (who was, truth be told, putting up an admirable defense).   
  
"Aww-haw-haww, you kids!" He picked up the red-headed kitten and the puppy by the  
scruffs of their necks, interrupting their little spat. They squirmed, but otherwise made no protest  
to his intervening. "So howzabout we go to beddy-bye, huh?"  
  
The red-head happily shouted the word that she'd discovered earlier in the week. "NO!"   
  
"Ah, well, that was more of a rhetorical question. . ." B.E.N. started. However, he was  
quickly cut off by the red-head's squealing giggles as she attempted to reach her brother. B.E.N.  
grinned and started to set them back down. The puppy stared up at B.E.N. with a look of horror,  
as if to say, 'You're leaving me with THEM?!'.   
  
"You sleep tight, now, kids!" B.E.N. flipped off the light, stumbled with a crash over  
some of Jim's old toys, pushed himself up, and finally made it out the door.  
  
***  
  
The etherium was calm from the spaceport to the prison. The 'crew' was not. Jim, though  
he was working pretty much all the time, was pacing in every spare moment that he was awake.  
Aaron, in his nervousness (and in the true Doppleristic spirit) read at every opportunity. He read  
during meals, in the short periods between work, and late into the night.   
  
Doppler and Amelia actually appeared to be in much higher spirits. Jim and Aaron  
walked in on Doppler at work in the kitchen on the second night. He was humming to himself  
and had a recipe book propped open above the stove. He tossed a few vegetables into a pot and  
noticed the cadets.   
  
"Ah, boys! Almost finished. . ."  
  
"Doc. . ." Jim struggled not to laugh. "Doc, what're you *wearing*?"   
  
Doppler looked down at the apron that had replaced his usual worn, red coat. He looked  
back up and smiled embarrassedly. "Well, eh, it just. . . I've always. . . It seemed like a good idea  
at the time!!"   
  
Jim and Aaron gave up holding it in and started laughing. "That's what they all say, Doc,"  
Jim managed to get out. Doppler frowned indignantly and went back to his work on dinner for  
that night (which ended up being surprisingly edible, for the most part).   
  
"Living alone for most of your life teaches you many things," Doppler commented as they  
mused at his hidden semi-talent for cooking. "Among them, how to make soup."  
  
Jim then started coughing and managed to pull the green, leafy vegetable that he had been  
choking on out of his throat.   
  
***  
  
Jim was sitting on a barrel, unconsciously tying and untying a bowline into the rope that  
he held in his hands. He was resting for a bit after having gotten rid of the few barnacles that had  
accumulated on the hull of the Volitant. There weren't many, and Amelia had even told him that  
there was little point to the task, but Jim had gone down to do it, just the same. Anything that  
could keep his mind off of the risks ahead of him was a welcomed distraction.   
  
However, it didn't last long. Jim sat up quickly as he heard Doppler calling to them.   
  
"There it is! We're there!"  
  
Jim twisted his neck around, looking behind him, but still couldn't see much of anything.  
He stood up and turned around, now finding it in full view. It was much smaller than he'd  
anticipated.  
  
"That's it?" He asked Doppler, who had come up behind him.   
  
"Well, I assume that after he was issued his. . . his sentence, they didn't see much point to  
keeping him in a high-security prison. If he should attempt to escape, they could do away with  
him, no questions asked. At least, not with the empire's government being in the state that it's  
currently in."   
  
"Oh," Jim replied, saying nothing more. He was nervous beyond all reason, considering  
how much he'd wanted to go on this little expedition to break the law. He rocked back and forth,  
shifting his weight from the balls of his feet to his heels. He was thankful when Amelia broke the  
silence.   
  
"Alright, men! Get ready. We're pulling in soon. I'm going to rest the Volitant for a  
moment. I want everyone prepared to go straight in as soon as we've docked."  
  
A round of 'Aye, Captains' (as well as one 'yes-dear') was issued. Jim and Aaron went  
down to their tiny cabin and Amelia and Doppler disappeared to theirs. Five minutes later they  
all reemerged on the deck. Jim and Aaron had dressed out of their academy uniforms (which  
Amelia had insisted they wear for the voyage, telling them to 'get used to it because it doesn't get  
any better'), and were now wearing almost-formal clothing that would be perfect for making a  
parent proud or talking your way out of a test that you had forgotten to study for. Doppler was  
remarkably unchanged, aside from the fact that his coat was now faded blue, as opposed to faded  
red. Amelia was by far the most shocking, having stepped onto the deck in a full-length skirt and  
blouse. She did not look happy about it, but got a sly smirk on her face when asked why she was  
wearing something so feminine.   
  
"Ah, you see, boys, sacrifices had to be made for. . . the greater good, if you will." She  
then lifted her skirt, revealing her usual tan leggings and long boots, but had a small arsenal of  
flintlocks tucked into loops that Sarah had sewn into the skirt for her. "Understand," Amelia  
added, "that we won't be using these unless absolutely necessary."   
  
Jim and Aaron nodded to her. They instantly reverted their attentions back to the small  
jailhouse, however. It continued to grow in their sights as they came nearer to it, matching their  
growing apprehension.  
  
As Amelia started to pull the Volitant nearer into the prison docks, Jim stood on the  
starboard side of the Volitant, looking towards the prison. He glanced at Aaron, who had also  
come up alongside him. Aaron spoke after a moment.   
  
"So. . . you ready?"  
  
Jim laughed a bit. "Of course not. But that's not what's important right now, I guess.  
What's important is the fact that-"  
  
***  
  
'I gotta get outta here!'   
  
Silver fidgeted nervously in his cell. The guards had been giving him quite a few glances  
that he didn't like, and he was getting the feeling that they wouldn't mind getting the hanging  
over with today or tomorrow, officer or none present.   
  
At the moment, however, one of the guards was gone. He had walked off towards the  
entrance to the prison a few moments before. The guard left behind turned to Silver, a somewhat  
cruel smirk on his face.  
  
"Now, who would come all the way out-"  
  
***  
  
"-here to see Silver," said Doppler, doing his best to be assertive. It was proving more  
difficult than he'd anticipated. His hands were shaking slightly, and it was all he could do not to  
babble incessantly.   
  
"Nobody ever comes to see Silver," the guard responded gruffly. He looked at the group,  
scrutinizing each member. This guy in the glasses seemed decent enough. Definitely didn't look  
like he'd be much trouble, anyway. The two kids didn't seem like the trouble-making sort. . . but  
of course those were the ones you had to watch out for. Still, it'd be easy to keep an eye on them.  
His eyes scanned then to Amelia, and he did a slight double-take.  
  
'Yow!' he thought to himself. 'Lookit that set of-'  
  
"Yes, well," said Doppler, cutting off the guard's somewhat dirty thoughts, "then I  
suppose that makes us nobody."  
  
"Got that right. . ."   
  
"What was that?"   
  
"Eh, nothin'. . . right this way. . ."   
  
He stood by the doorway, watching first Jim, Aaron, and Doppler pass through he waited  
for Amelia to do so (while glancing at her rather lecherously), but she didn't budge.   
  
"Comin', miss?"   
  
'Alright,' thought Amelia. 'Just get it over with, old girl.' She sighed, then put on her  
most charming (and certainly her most insincere, though the guard couldn't tell this) smile.   
  
Amelia responded, "You know, I rather like it out here. So. . . *private.*" She fought her  
disgust, and managed to force herself to bat her eyelashes once or twice at the guard. He stood  
stock still, staring at her.  
  
"C-come again?"   
  
Amelia walked over to him, head tilted slightly downward, but looking him in the eye.  
She threw an extra swing into her hips as she walked, feeling the comforting weight of the  
flintlocks bumping against her legs as she did so.   
  
"Oh, it's simply *dreadful* being dragged around with those horrible canians, and that  
human. . ." She smirked as the guard swallowed, visibly nervous and somewhat shocked. Amelia  
continued, "Wonderful to get away from them for a moment, you know. . ."  
  
***  
  
"Alright, boys," Doppler said quickly in a hushed tone. "If I remember the schematics  
correctly, the cells are down this corridor." He pointed to a branch on their right. "Jim, you're  
going to-"  
  
"-find Silver. Gotcha." Jim nodded.  
  
"Good boy. And Aaron, the electronic alarm controls are further down this hall. Go down  
the third corridor on your left, then first on your right."  
  
Aaron simply nodded nervously, looking slightly nauseous at the prospect of heading off  
into the prison alone.   
  
"Doc, where're you gonna be?" Jim asked quietly.  
  
"I'm going to try to find the guard that's still in back, and keep him occupied," Doppler  
said quickly. "But you need to move quickly, boys! The sooner we get out of here, the better."  
  
Jim and Aaron nodded and took off in their own separate directions. Doppler started to  
head for what he hoped was the guards' office.  
  
***   
The guard with Amelia in the front lobby still didn't move from where he was standing,  
but started to turn his head toward the doorway that Jim, Doppler, and Aaron had gone through.  
Amelia grabbed his jaw and turned his head back to face her. His eyes opened wide, utterly  
shocked. This particular guard was of Amelia's own species, but had a stockier build than most  
of the males. He could easily outfight her. Amelia poured every ounce of self-control into not  
pulling out one of the flintlocks then and there.  
  
"Don't you worry about them, darling," she said quickly, in what she hoped was an  
appealing voice. "They're good boys."  
  
"Yes, but-"  
  
"'But' nothing!" Amelia quickly cut him off. "Don't you spend another thought on what's  
going on elsewhere. Think about what's going on *here*."   
  
The guard stared at her, completely and utterly confused.  
  
***  
  
"Oh man oh man oh man oh man. . ." Aaron muttered to himself as he walked as quickly  
and quietly as he could down the hall. He came to the door of the room that would supposedly  
hold the alarm system's controls. He nervously grasped the mechanism to open it, pulled, and-  
  
"Perfect." The mechanism hadn't budged, obviously locked. Aaron sighed and studied it  
for a moment, then pulled out a thin piece of metal from his sleeve. He stuck it into a slat in the  
complicated lock, worked at it for a moment, and sighed again.  
  
"Forget it." He then stood up straight again and looked in both directions down the  
corridor that he was currently in. Nobody in sight. Good. He then lifted his right leg and kicked  
hard, his heel hitting just above the mechanism. There was a satisfying sound of metal sliding  
against metal for a moment, and then the door swung slowly open into the room. Aaron glanced  
in. It was dark except for a few blinking lights.   
  
". . . Anybody home?" Ridiculous a question as it was, Aaron was still somewhat afraid  
that somebody would actually answer him. He squinted in the dark room. Canians had never  
exactly been known for their sharp eyes, and Aaron was just going to have to feel along the wall  
until he came to the main wire console. As he made his way around the wall, he bumped his head  
on something. There was a metallic clang, and Aaron, acting on instinct, reached up to grab  
whatever it was that had hit him.   
  
"Oh, thank God. . ." It had been a lantern. Aaron felt for the burner, and twisted the small  
knob on the side. The lantern hummed warmly, then flickered on. Aaron looked around the room  
again. It looked fairly empty. A few beacons for the alarm system on one wall, a few chairs in the  
corner. . . It even appeared that some of the room was being used for storage. And on the wall to  
his left-  
  
"Bingo." There was the wire console. It was a bit intimidating. At the academy, the  
largest console they'd ever worked with was probably about one square meter. This one, though,  
was perhaps one and a half, two meters tall, three wide. On the inside. Aaron walked along its  
length, inspecting the wires, trying to remember all he'd learned in electronic engineering.  
  
***  
  
"Hello? Hellooo?" Doctor Delbert Doppler called nervously. "Anyone. . . eh. . . anyone  
here?" He walked down the hall, somewhat on tip-toes, slowly turning his head, taking in the  
surroundings as he went. Despite his attempts to walk quietly, there was still a slight echo in the  
corridor.   
  
Doppler fought the urge to look over his shoulder every few seconds. He was running  
over what he could remember about this dreadful little outpost of a prison. If he was correct, the  
office should be. . . ah, there it was. The door was slightly ajar. Doppler heard no noise from  
within the room. If Amelia was keeping the guard up front 'busy', the other should be watching  
Silver. The prison was small enough (and empty enough, housing only Silver and perhaps one or  
two other minor offenders) that there would only be two guards on duty. With that thought,  
Doppler pushed the door open further.   
  
He sighed with relief. Empty.   
  
***  
  
"Eh, ma'am, I dunno if-"  
  
"Don't you talk to me that way! Don't think. . ." (Amelia ground her teeth together in  
disgust) ". . . that I didn't notice!"   
  
The guard turned a shade of red. "Ma'am, I haven't the slightest what yer gettin' a-"  
  
"More denial! Oh, when will it end?!" Amelia cried, overly dramatic. She turned away  
from the guard, one arm covering her eyes. The skirt swished heavily around her ankles.  
'Damned thing,' she thought to herself, frowning.   
  
"Ma'am, I'm afraid-"  
  
Amelia whirled around. "YOU'RE afraid! How do you think *I* feel?!" She struggled  
not to laugh at the expression on the poor man's face. She decided to have a bit of fun with this.  
She suddenly gasped loudly, and began to put on a remarkably believable performance of  
sobbing uncontrollably.   
  
"First, I. . . I. . . FIRST, I'm dragged around by *those three* on that *little ship*, and-  
and- and- now *you're* being just *dreadful* to me, and. . ." She attempted to wail. Not having  
done so since perhaps age two, she was a bit out of practice. It was, however, realistic enough to  
make the guard extremely uncomfortable.   
  
"Ehm. . . yeh don't need t' get all weepy, ma'am. . . s'alright, really. . ."   
  
Amelia pulled her face up out of her hands, opening her eyes wide in what she hoped was  
a convincing look of mixed confusion and thanks. "R-r-reeeeally?" She sniffled loudly for added  
effect. It was all she could do not to burst out laughing.   
  
"Er. . ."  
  
"Oh, THANK YOU!!!" cried Amelia, proceeding to throw her arms around the guard's  
neck and begin 'sobbing' again into his shoulder.   
  
***  
  
Jim crept down the hall silently. He wished desperately for one of those flintlocks that  
Amelia had on her, but there was nothing he could do about that now. He had, however, managed  
to slip his pocketknife into his sleeve. Hopefully he wouldn't have to use it, but it was  
comforting, just the same.   
  
At the end of the corridor that Jim was in, there was a dimly-lit doorway. The cells were  
in there, which meant that Silver would be as well. There was also the possibility that the second  
guard would be in there. Jim swallowed the lump in his throat and came to the doorway. He  
listened carefully, but heard no movement. Somewhere towards the end of the cell block, the  
sound of dripping water echoed.   
  
Jim took a deep breath, then quickly stepped into the cell block, hands up and ready to  
throw a fast punch if it was needed.   
  
Luckily, it was not.  
  
Jim sighed with relief and put his fists down. He walked silently down the cell block,  
looking to either side of him as he went along. He was surprised (but not *too* surprised) to see  
that the cells were practically all empty. 'Petty theft must be down in this sector,' he thought to  
himself mildly.  
  
He spotted the cause of the echo-y drip, a broken pipe. He squinted at it curiously and  
began to walk toward it. He kneeled down next to the pipe. Jim had always been a curious kid,  
and some of that curiosity was still with him; after all, he was only seventeen. He tapped at the  
pipe a bit, having a bit of know-how in the ways of repair thanks to his years of work on his solar  
surfer. The pipe had just eroded a bit, anyway. If Jim could just find something to get it back into  
the wall firmly. . .  
  
***  
  
Silver sighed as he heard footsteps coming down the cell block. Wonderful. The guard  
was back. He sat down on his bunk again, after pacing around the cell. Despite his deactivated  
limbs, he could drag his leg well enough, and the arm helped somewhat as a balance. Walking  
about in his confined little cell may not be the best thing for his health at this point (considering  
the guards around this joint) but was at least a very effective way to pass the time.   
  
Silver closed his eyes to put up the guise of sleep, or at least passiveness. It had  
apparently worked because the footsteps went past him and continued on down the cell block.  
Silver opened his non-cybernetic eye to make sure the guard was past. He nearly had a heart  
attack then and there.   
  
'It's *not*. . .' he thought to himself. 'It just isn't. Ain't no way it could be.' He frowned  
with a frustrated sigh, then looked up again. 'But if it is-'  
  
***  
  
"Cell block next to the lighting next to the power grid next to the offices next to. . ."  
Aaron muttered to himself as he traced the pathways of the wires across the console. Pulling the  
wrong wire could have fatal results.   
  
"Blues are silent yellows are visual reds are audio. . ." He recited the alarms. Preferably  
he wouldn't trip a silent or an audio. Visual would take longer (but not much longer) to notice.   
  
"You'd think they could at least *label* this stupid thing."  
  
***  
  
Doppler looked around the small, cluttered room. There were two desks with various  
amounts of what looked like the contents of a wastebin all over them, a table in the corner with  
the same sort of stuff upon it (though this pile seemed to be more made up of clothing than  
anything else), a few lanterns on hooks on the wall, and. . .  
  
"Ah, there you are!" Doppler spotted a box labeled 'CONFISCATED/SEIZED'. He  
supposed that the bigger things would be in a closet somewhere. No matter. He looked into the  
box, which had a few odds and ends in it, but two stuck out. Two small, golden microchips for  
cybernetic machinery. The things that allowed the level-up prosthetics to run smoothly; to run at  
all.   
  
Doppler picked one chip up, examining it closely. He flipped it over and read the  
minuscule inscription. 'M-A4000'. It didn't mean much to Doppler, but he assumed that Silver  
would know what to do with it.   
  
Looking around the room once more, Doppler quickly pocketed the two small  
microchips, took one more glance, and then slipped out of the room again. He needed to find Jim,  
and fast.   
  
***  
  
Jim was kneeling down next to the pipe. He stood up, muttering, after he had worked at it  
unsuccessfully for about five minutes.   
  
'Eh, it was broken before, it can live with being broken now,' he thought to himself. He  
was pulling out a handkerchief (an addition to his outfit upon the insisting of the doc), when he  
froze. He heard something behind him. He froze. If the guard was behind him, he would do well  
not to give away that he knew. Instead he forced himself to calm down, shuffled his feet a bit,  
and stuck his hands in his pockets. He curled them into fists, preparing to throw a good, hard  
punch.   
  
Jim whirled around, bringing his fists out and up, protecting his face. He blinked at the  
aisle of the cell block. Empty. He started slowly walking down, back the way he came. He made  
a sudden turn every few steps, looking around for whomever had been on the block with him.   
  
He started walking backwards, watching behind him. His feet shuffled ever so slightly as  
he made his way towards the entrance. The sound echoed ominously in the otherwise-silent hall.  
Even the dripping had stopped, it seemed. It felt like there wasn't another living thing in the  
galax-  
  
"JIMBO!!!"  
  
"YAAHHHH!!!!"   
  
Jim flew to the side of the aisle, his back pressed against the bars of an empty cell and his  
eyes bulging in shock. He stared into the cell opposite him as he gasped for breath. As he  
managed to calm down, he realized that a golden eye was blinking out of the dim light at him. He  
instantly pushed himself off of the bars and rushed forward.  
  
"Silver!"  
  
"Jimbo!"  
  
"Silver!"  
  
"Jimbo!"  
  
"Si-"  
  
"Alright, yes, that's been established, lad."  
  
"Heh. . . right. . ."  
  
*****  
  
And there you have it! The end! No more! I'm not ever writing another word for this fic  
EVER AGAIN.  
  
I kid, I kid. Lots more to come. I know that wasn't funny, and you probably weren't upset,  
but I needed a bit of sarcasm. *salute!*  
  
Ah, yes. . . for those of you interested in seeing my (shyttie) take on Aaron, go to  
http://chooseyourbanners.homestead.com/files/Aaron.jpg . That is all! *bow* 


	12. BaitandSwitch

First and foremost: Sorry this took so long! I've had several hundred-thousand projects  
going lately, including those of the academic genre, and I'm working on those at the  
moment.  
  
And second: A BIIIG thank-you (cough) goes out to someone that seems very interested  
in my work lately. I'm not going to post names or e-mails. . . but I got some colorful reviews on a  
few of my fics from them. Colorful. Right. But! It seems that FF.n is incredibly on top of things  
all the time, and deleted them! Thank you, FF.n! *waves flag*  
  
*****  
  
"Er, ma'am. . ."   
  
Amelia stopped 'crying' suddenly and looked up, pupils wide and inquisitive. "Hm?"  
  
"Ehm. . ."  
  
"Ah, of course." Amelia took a step back from the guard and brushed his shirt off. She  
stared at him for a moment, grinning mildly, then reached over and plucked an orange strand of  
hair off of said shirt. She was still again, that same smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.  
  
"Look, ma'am, not meanin' any, er, disrespect, but I oughta be checkin' back on me  
partner and the, uh, the pris'ner, yeh know. . ."  
  
'Damn,' thought Amelia to herself. 'Stubborn one. . . but that's manageable.' She  
shuddered at the thought of what 'managing' him might involve. After a moment of  
consideration, she grabbed both of his shoulders and prepared herself for what would surely be  
one of her best (well, 'only' was more like it) performances to date.  
  
***  
  
Doctor Delbert Doppler had been close to cell block when he realized that he would have  
to go back to the office. He had forgotten to get the codes for the lock. Silver's machinery would  
most likely be able to break through the metal bars easily enough, but the more damage avoided,  
the better off they were.   
  
He stepped into the office again, feeling somewhat pushed. Time was running short. The  
sooner he was out of here, the better. Perhaps it would have been better just to have kept going  
towards Jim; after all, damages could be paid.  
  
"Of course, time in prison cannot. . ." He pulled open a drawer and glanced at the  
contents, then shut it quickly again. Nothing.   
  
"Where is it where is it where is it where where wherewherewhere. . . ." He opened  
another drawer.  
  
"They have to keep them *someplace*. . ." He rifled through some papers, but with this  
office in the disarray that it was, it was seeming more and more unlikely that he would find  
anything at all. He sighed and turned around, his back to the pile of papers, looked down, and felt  
that now would be a splendid time to clean off his glasses. He took them off and wiped them on  
his coat mildly, then put them back onto his nose. He pushed them up, his eyes moving to the  
wall in front of him. Tacked up was a sheet of parchment with bold text at the top. 'CELL LOCK  
DIGIT CODING - LOCAL BLOCK ONE'.   
  
"Of course."  
  
***  
  
"Okay. . . okay. . . so I pull. . . this one!" Aaron pointed to a green wire, pointing it out to  
Nobody-In-Particular. He suddenly had a second thought. This wire happened to be surrounded  
by seven more green wires. If this was the *wrong* wire to the *wrong* cell, then Jim might  
open the thing and end up setting off enough alarms to bring reinforcements to the prison from  
every possible source in a five-hundred-parsec radius. Not good.   
  
Not good at all.  
  
***  
  
"You. . . you're okay!"  
  
"Aye, lad! What, yeh think a bunch o' gill rats like these guards could get t' this ol'  
cyborg?"  
  
Jim smiled a bit at the twinkle in Silver's eye. Nothing could keep this guy down.   
  
"Yeah, but I just thought. . ." Jim noticed Silver's lop-sided appearance and remembered  
Doppler telling him that this might have happened, Silver's machinery being shut off. It was  
somewhat unsettling to see those intricate works of mechanical art hanging inactive, now nothing  
more than dead weight.   
  
"Eh, Jimbo, not the push yeh or anythin', but. . ."  
  
Jim snapped out of his thoughts. "Right! Right. . . Doc's gonna be here soon with the key  
code, and we've got someone at work on the alarms."  
  
Silver suddenly looked horrified. "Not that heap o' scrap metal!"  
  
Jim looked at Silver, confused. "Heap of. . .? Oh!" Jim laughed out loud, but quickly  
quieted himself. "No, not B.E.N.. We've got someone a little more. . . capable, I think. . ."  
  
***  
  
"Screw it. I'm pullin' 'em all."  
  
Aaron grabbed all eight of the green wires that he assumed connected the alarm to the  
cells. As soon as he pulled the last wire, he sighed with relief. No bells going off. No red lights  
flashing. No-  
  
"Hey!"  
  
Aaron whirled around at the sound of the angry guard. He laughed weakly.  
  
"Uh. . . . hi there?"  
  
"Boy. . ." The guard's face darkened. "Do ye know exactly what it is yer doin'?"  
  
"Uhhh. . . ." Aaron's mind raced wildly. He struggled not to panic. He could make it out  
of this if he just kept his wits about him and thought of a plan. After a brief moment (in which he  
did quite a bit of nervous grinning at the guard), he had formulated one that he figured would  
work well enough. It was complicated. Strategic.  
  
"WOAH WHAT'S THAT?!" Aaron pointed wildly behind the guard. The guard startled,  
spreading his feet wide, but didn't budge otherwise.   
  
"Yeh've gotta be kiddin', lad."   
  
Aaron sighed and hung his head in defeat. "You're right. I just don't know what I was-"  
He suddenly ran straight for the guard. The guard froze in shock, legs still planted wide apart in  
the doorway. As Aaron was about to reach him, he suddenly dropped down and slid between the  
guard's widely-placed legs.  
  
"Hey!!" the guard shouted after him, but Aaron had already pushed himself up and was  
running down the hall as quickly as his somewhat-gangly legs could carry him. He stumbled  
briefly, skidded into the wall at the end of the corridor, pushed off of it quickly, and headed to the  
left.  
  
The guard followed at a brisk jog, confident that he could keep up easily enough. He  
turned left at the end of the hall and stopped, staring at the empty corridor. It was a dead end, and  
he hadn't heard a door open or close. The kid sure as hell didn't run past him. . . so where was h-  
  
The guard felt a light tap on his shoulder. He whirled around, fist flying in front of him to  
land a blow on the stupid kid. Scrawny or not, he had crossed the line.   
  
"C'mere, yeh little- OWWW!!!!" The guard's fist slammed into the wall. He clutched it  
with his good hand, teeth bared as he turned around to look behind him. All he saw was a brief  
flash of the kid, running down the corridor, looking over his shoulder (and grinning slightly) as  
he turned the corner.   
  
***  
  
Doctor Doppler reviewed the code one more time in his head, making sure that he would  
remember it. He felt it was hardly necessary; after all, if you can memorize the ascending energy  
levels for valence electrons ("One-s, two-s, two-p, three-s. . ." he muttered to himself), then of  
course this would be simple as an atomic equation with given beta radiation.   
  
"Just remember the antineutrino. . ." he continued muttering to himself. "Right." He  
walked out the office door again, feeling the two small microchips in his pocket as he went. The  
walk was a quiet one, the soft padding of his feet echoing slightly off of the stone walls. After  
two turns, he began to hear echoes of hushed whispers mingling with his footsteps.  
  
'And that'll be Jim.'  
  
***  
  
Alright, so Aaron had taken care of *that* guy. But he was lost. This was just not his day.   
  
'Jim, buddy. . . you're a great guy. . . but the things you've gotten me into. . .'  
  
He continued running, but slowed to a jog after hearing no sound of pursuit. He decided  
that he could stop and rest for a moment. He knew that he'd been in circles once or twice, at  
least. After all, the place was pretty small. How much architecture could there be? Aaron  
pondered this as he leaned in a doorway. Yes, Jim had certainly pulled him into a spot. That  
presumptuous, conniving, manipulative. . . Nah. Jim *was* a good guy. He was doing what he  
thought was right. But still. . . He shifted his weight uncomfortably as he leaned on the solid  
door.  
  
"If we manage to somehow pull out of this intact, I'm gonna wring his humanoid little ne-  
"  
  
He suddenly felt himself falling backwards. He landed on a cold stone floor with a thud.  
Sprawled out, he did not move, but blinked, clearing his vision.   
  
"YOU!"  
  
"Whatta ya mean, ME? You're the one that's just hanging around in doorways!"  
  
"Yeah, well. . . you're the one going around. . . opening them!"  
  
"What does that have to do wi-"  
  
"Whatever, whatever, I got the alarms," Aaron said, pushing himself up. He had fallen  
into the cell block, Jim having opened the door upon which he'd been leaning. Jim looked  
relieved at his news about the alarms, but glanced over his shoulder. He turned back quickly.  
  
"Seen Doc anywhere?" he whispered.  
  
Aaron shook his head. "I thought he'd be here by now."  
  
"And you thought correctly!"  
  
Both boys turned quickly to see Doctor Doppler in the doorway that Aaron had fallen  
through. He looked around the dank room, then turned to Jim and asked, "Mr. Silver?"   
  
Jim pointed down the hall and quickly walked ahead of Doppler and Aaron. "He's down  
here. . ." They stopped at Silver's cell. Silver puffed his chest out, inspecting each of them. He  
nodded courteously, and Doppler and Aaron nodded back. Satisfied, Silver relaxed and grinned.  
  
"Good t' see yeh. All of yeh, new an' old faces alike."   
  
"And a, eh. . . a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Silver," Doppler replied curtly, still  
somewhat resentful from the Treasure Planet incident. He stepped forward and began punching  
the code into the lock. As he did so, Silver found the need within himself to strike up some small  
conversation.  
  
"So, Doc, how's t'ings goin' for yeh?"   
  
"Fine, fine. . ."  
  
"Not distractin' yeh, am I?"  
  
"No. . ."  
  
"Good." Silver rocked back and forth, shifting his weight from his dead right leg to his  
good left leg. He looked up, as though he had just then thought of something. "So. . . Dops. . ."  
  
Doppler glanced up at this new nickname. "Hm?"  
  
"Keepin' that code straight in yer head?"  
  
"I could. . . if a particular prisoner w-"  
  
"Doc, s'okay, just keep working on that lock," Jim cut in quickly, looking nervously over  
both shoulders down the cell block in either direction. "Y'know. . . we're kinda pressed for time  
and all. . ."  
  
"Of course, right. . ." Doppler muttered as he continued drawing the code from memory.  
So far he'd managed to keep it straight. It was a simple matter of putting the digits into an  
equation that one could easily compare to the-  
  
"Say, Dops. . ."  
  
Doppler clenched his teeth and looked up, a forced grin on his face. ". . . . . . Yesss?"  
  
"I don't mean t' be a bother, but did yeh happen t' see anythin' that may have, eh, been of  
some interest t' me. . ?" Silver glanced down at his useless arm and leg pointedly.  
  
"Oh, yes. . . yes. . ." Doppler reached into his pocket distractedly and pulled out the two  
microchips. He tossed them quickly to Silver and tried to remember the digit he'd been on in the  
code sequence.   
  
Silver had caught the two small chips into his left hand, grinning. "Seems yeh managed to  
do something of worth fer once, Dops!" Doppler looked up, about to comment (somewhat  
harshly), but Silver was already at work on his cybernetics, full attention concentrated onto his  
mechanical arm. His large left hand found the delicate work difficult, but he managed to slip one  
small golden chip into a slot in the opened panel of his forearm.  
  
Jim, Aaron and Doppler (who was looking up from his work) all watched in fascination  
as Silver continued. His cybernetic eye folded open and emitted its trademark red beam. It  
scanned the workings of the arm quickly, then slid shut once more. He looked up, grinned, and  
snapped the panel closed. "Well, lads, we're 'bout t' see a bit o' the old Silver!" He grinned  
again. The three on the other side of the bars watched expectantly, awaiting movement from the  
exanimate limb. Nothing came.  
  
"Uh, look. . . Silver. . . you sure it was. . . y'know. . . right?"  
  
Silver looked down at his arm, concerned. He rotated his shoulder slightly, attempting to  
spark some movement. "I'ss. . . s'not startin' up. . . I jus' don' know. . ." His eyes moved back  
and forth quickly over it, then he looked up, gazing at them somewhat panicked. Jim blinked at  
him.  
  
"But. . . you. . . you can't just. . ."  
  
Suddenly the arm lifted up and waved its fingers at them. Silver watched it, grinning. "I  
told yeh once, I tell yeh again: ain't nothin' if I ain't a kidder!" He grinned at Jim and Aaron as  
they laughed nervously, then leaned down and quickly snapped in the circuiting for his leg. It  
soon moved about with the same fluid grace that it had several weeks ago.   
  
"Never thought I'd be glad t' see these ol' piles o' scrap metal on me!" laughed Silver. He  
walked up to the bars, in front of Doppler, who had given up on remembering the code, and had  
started over with it. Silver watched him for a moment, then cleared his throat. Doppler looked up  
with a look that silently said, 'What do you want NOW?!' Silver grinned. "Lemme give 'er a go,  
Dops."  
  
Doppler clenched his teeth again. "Be. . . my. . . guest!!" He took an annoyed step back  
from the panel. Silver took a step forward in turn, and his cybernetic hand folded in. The  
magazines in his arm rotated, and the more intricate tools (the same that Jim had watched Silver  
tell stories with so many times), folded out. Silver put his arm up to the bars. The multi-jointed  
tools reached through the bars, flew across the key panel in a series of whirs and clicks, and  
suddenly a small, beeping tone sounded shortly. Silver pulled his cybernetic arm away as he  
returned its appearance to that of a hand, and stepped back as the bars began to retract. Aaron  
winced nervously, hoping that no alarm would go off. None did.  
  
"Whew. . ." Aaron allowed a small, nervous laugh to escape himself. He turned to Jim.  
"Well, this has gone better than we could've hoped f-"  
  
"Oh-HO! So THIS is what's been goin' on!"  
  
At the sound of the burly guard's voice, Jim, Doppler and Aaron all turned to their right  
to see the burly guard standing at the end of the cell block, a satisfied and dark grin on his face.  
  
"Uh. . . hi again." Aaron waved vaguely with a nervous laugh.  
  
The guard began to walk slowly down the hall. The three watched in horrid fascination as  
he pulled a flintlock out of what seemed to have been nowhere-at-all. He held it up, glancing at  
it, and then stopped within easy firing range of them. "So. Us 'ere have been a bit lazy t'day, eh?  
We let a couple o' lowbrow riffraff slip past us, an' I says we should be ashamed of ourselves,  
we should." He cocked his flintlock. "But I says t' meself, I says that this c'n all be 'rased from  
the records, if we were t' pretend it never happened. And of course that requires you all t' be-"  
  
"Eh, that requires us all to what now, lad?" Silver stepped out from his cell, his  
cybernetic arm with the flintlock out and ready to fire at the guard.   
  
The guard gaped at Silver. "How. . . you. . ." He lowered his firearm slightly, no longer  
taking aim. It was a wide enough opening for Jim. He made a dash for the guard. The guard  
blinked at him and began to raise his gun again. Jim ducked and came up once more, his left arm  
making an upward arc, coming under the guard's arms and knocking them in the wrist. The guard  
fired the flintlock as his arms were jolted upward, but hit only the ceiling after Jim's intervention.  
  
Jim wasted no time. He quickly gave the guard two quick punches in the stomach while  
his arms were still raised and then leapt back lightly, barely missing being slammed in the back  
of the head with the butt of the guard's gun. Silver was tempted to fire his flintlock, but there was  
no telling how Jim was going to move, or when he was going to do it.  
  
Jim kept facing the guard, but glanced back to the small group behind him. "Go, now! I'll  
catch you up!"   
  
All three protested immediately and in unison, more or less. "Jim, buddy-" "Jim, think  
about-" "Jimbo-"  
  
"GO!!" Jim had pulled his small knife out of his sleeve and was already making a run for  
the guard before he could take aim again. Unfortunately, the guard already had. He fired twice at  
Jim. Jim ducked the first and threw himself to the right to dodge the second. This guy had a  
tendency to aim to his left.   
  
Silver had paused for a moment, but then began pulling Doppler and Aaron out of the cell  
block. After an instant's argument they both began running with him. Soon they were nearly in  
panic flight. Their minds lingered on Jim back in the cell block.  
  
***  
  
The damned guard's eyes kept drifting back to the door. Amelia was all but sitting in his  
lap, for heaven's sake, but apparently his mind was stuck on that. Bloody. DOOR. Fed up, she  
grabbed his face roughly, pointing it back at her. "Look. Right. HERE," she said through gritted  
teeth.  
  
'Alright. For the greater good. Just keep that in mind, and it'll be more tolera- who am I  
kidding? I'll be lucky not to vomit all over myself.'  
  
She moved her head slowly closer to the guards, lips somewhat pursed. She did her best  
not to wince as she got nearer, catching a whiff of his less-than-pleasant scent.  
  
'God help m-' and suddenly she was being pulled away, lead by a hand firmly gripped  
around her wrist. 'Didn't think that'd work!' She looked up when she heard-  
  
"Despite all the fun you seem to be having, dear, we really MUST BE GOING!!" Doppler  
shouted the last bit to the whole group more than Amelia as an individual. Nobody needed to be  
told twice. Aaron had followed shortly behind Doppler, and Silver was in the rear, running  
surprisingly fast for a man missing half of his biological body parts.   
  
Amelia looked over her shoulder at the two. "Where's James?!" she shouted to Silver.   
  
"He's in a bit of a spot, Cap'n! 'E said t' keep goin'! Wouldn't hear o' us stayin' a  
moment longer!"  
  
Amelia stopped, starting to make a break for it and head toward the cell block, but  
Doppler grabbed her wrist again and pulled a bit more firmly. She glared at his hand on her wrist,  
then looked up at him and saw his features set in a distressed-but-composed expression. He  
shook his head once.  
  
Amelia paused for the briefest of seconds. When she caught the movement of the guard  
out of the corner of her eye, she was snapped back to reality and began running again, Aaron and  
Silver now having pulled ahead. They made it out of the front door quickly, heading up the dock.  
Once they'd reached the Volitant, the group made it in, each in their own manner. Aaron and  
Amelia had jumped in (though Amelia with a good deal more grace and a good deal less effort),  
and Silver and Doppler had opted for the short gangplank.   
  
Amelia was at the helm already. "Doctor, raise the astral anchor. Mr. Silver, I want you  
below-deck with the boy." She nodded at Aaron.  
  
Silver's look darkened at being told what to do so repeatedly. He'd never taken kindly to  
orders- but wasn't that what'd gotten him into this whole mess? He decided that now would most  
likely be a time to keep quiet. Annoying as they may be, this here group had busted him out of a  
situation that involved the phrase 'certain death', and that deserved a bit of gratefulness in its  
own right. He took Aaron by the shoulder and began heading for the one place he could think to  
go: the galley.  
  
***  
  
Jim flew in at the guard again. He ducked quickly, braced himself with his palms on the  
cold stone floor, and made a sweep with his right leg. The guard stumbled, but regained his  
balance as Jim jumped back.   
  
"Yer but a boy!" laughed the guard, pulling the flintlock up again. "I'm a trained  
profess'nal! Yeh've got no experience, and yeh've got no chance."  
  
Jim glared at him, teeth clenched tightly. He whispered through them. "You'd be  
surprised at the things you don't know."  
  
"Oh, 'sat so?" chuckled the guard. "What, laddie, yeh get into a few fistfights in primary  
school?"  
  
"Got into a few fights-to-the-death two years ago. . ."  
  
"Whu'ssat?"   
  
A smile but angry smile tugged at one corner of Jim's mouth. "Nothing important." He  
suddenly closed in again. He made one dodge to the right, then quickly came in straight again. He  
raised his knife. The guard looked up at it, and, in blind panic, aimed the flintlock at it. Jim  
moved his arm to the side with the reflexes of a lightning strike, and the flintlock moved with it.  
Jim took the opportunity to kick. Hard. The guard cried out and dropped the flintlock. He bent to  
retrieve it, but Jim kicked it away. It skittered into Silver's empty cell and into the shadows.  
  
The guard looked up at Jim. Jim knew that if it came to a contest of strength, open  
punches and kicks, he had absolutely no chance. He held his small knife out in what he hoped  
was a threatening manner. "Don't move," he directed the guard firmly. He was horrified when  
the guard smiled.  
  
"Wouldn't dream of it, lad," he chuckled lowly. Jim studied the guard's face intently.  
When the guard's eyes flicked toward something behind Jim, he knew he was in trouble. He  
began to turn around, but before he could, the world exploded into a brilliant flash of white. It  
slowly faded to reddish-gray, and then it was black. It was all black.  
  
*****  
  
Mwaha. 


	13. How to Use It

If I owned any of this, would I be writing fanfiction? I think not. It's all Disney's.  
  
*****  
  
At first he hadn't known what to think. Then, an instant later, the thoughts came almost  
more quickly than he could bear.  
  
'He'll come back he always comes back remember when he left and he was gone for real  
long but he came back then too and he'll come back again and he. . . he. . . breathe. . .' Jim  
suddenly exhaled a ragged breath of air, realizing that he'd been holding it for as long as he'd  
been holding onto that post on the dock. He gasped in breath and exhaled it in quick pants for a  
moment as another thought came to his eight-year-old mind. 'But he always waved g'bye, too.'  
Jim sank to his knees on the dock.  
  
Dad hadn't waved 'bye this time.  
  
"He was in a hurry. . ." Jim whispered to the empty quarry below. "Had to go 'cause he  
was in a hurry. . . 's'all. . ."  
  
**  
  
"Nighty-night, sweetie."   
  
"I'm not a sweetie!"  
  
"Of course you aren't, honey."  
  
"Moo-ooomm. . ."   
  
**  
  
"'Night, Daddy. . . . Dad. Dad. 'Night, Dad."  
  
"Seeya, kiddo."   
  
"Hey, Dad?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"You're gonna be back soon, right?"  
  
***  
  
Jim was awake long before his eyes opened. His mind slowly faded into awareness. It was  
still black, but now. . . well, now Jim was aware of it. It wasn't unconsciousness, anyway. But oh  
man. . . his head had a spot of red, pulsing pain on the back, more on the right side. You'd think  
he'd been knocked with a. . . with. . .   
  
Oh. Yeah. The butt of a gun.  
  
He tried to clear his thoughts (for some reason, his mother's voice echoed in his head)  
and stopped to listen, all the while keeping his eyes shut. He was lying on an old bed. It smelled  
disgusting. Wonderful. He heard dripping water. From a broken pipe. THE broken pipe. Even  
better. Wow, what a great day this had been.  
  
Jim cautiously opened one eye. He was met with more darkness, only slightly brighter  
than the backs of his eyelids. The blinking purple-green-white stars cleared from his vision and  
his surroundings came into view. He was in a cell. He stared out to the place where the fight had  
taken place however long ago. There was no sign of any scuffle on the stone floor. At least not  
that Jim could s-  
  
"What the. . ." Jim spotted a few dark reddish-brown circles, barely the size of coins. His  
hand quickly felt the back of his head and the stars flashed again as Jim hissed, quickly taking a  
sharp breath at the pain. He shook his head slightly with his eyes tightly shut, then opened them  
again with his hand held out in front of him. There was some blackish, dried blood mixed with  
fresh red on his middle and pointer finger.  
  
Faaantastic.   
  
"Jeeze, they didn't have to hit me so hard. . ." muttered Jim. "What were they trying to  
do, kill m-"  
  
Well, actually, they had been, in the beginning. Jim sighed, sitting up and leaning  
forward, his elbows rested on his knees and his face buried in his hands. He slowly mumbled into  
them, "I am SO-"  
  
"DEAD! We're dead, we're dead, we're dead!"  
  
Jim looked up suddenly, this time ignoring the throbbing protest that his head put up.  
"Mo-" Jim stopped at the sudden volume of his voice. He started again in a hushed whisper.  
"Morph, ya gotta stop doin' this to me!"   
  
Morph chirped happily and did a back-flip in the air, out of sheer ignorance as to the  
situation that Jim was finding himself in.   
  
"Where- well. . . *What* were you? I mean, how did you even. . ." Jim trailed off (which  
was not saying much; he was barely audible as it was). "Never mind. I think on this one I'm  
better off not knowing."  
  
Morph chirp-chuckled and proceeded with another back-flip.  
  
"Okay, now I *know* I'm better off. . ." Jim whispered, turning his head away from  
Morph, looking at him out of the corners of his eyes. He turned to look out the cell, into the dark  
hall. At least there weren't any other prisoners. That'd be an advantage later, no doubt.  
  
'An advantage for WHAT?' hissed a cynical voice at the back of Jim's mind. 'You're  
acting like someone's actually gonna come back.'  
  
Jim shook his head. Of course they'd come back. They just. . . well. . . they had to.   
  
'Oh, yeah, brilliant reasoning there. They have to come back about as much as Dad had  
to.'   
  
***  
  
Doppler paced back and forth on the deck of the Volitant, muttering to himself.   
  
"Well, he's all alone. . . nothing on radar. . . no police vehicles. . . . . Coming soon  
though. . . and then there's no-"  
  
"Delbert, darling, do me a favor and calm down, before I shoot you," Amelia directed  
from the helm. She was not in the best of moods. Today had been somewhat trying, to say the  
least. Her role as the 'distraction' in the prison was still one of the single most degrading and/or  
disgusting experiences of her life, she was tired, Hawkins was in prison, and to top it all off, she  
was still wearing a dress. "Mr. Hawkins is quite the capable lad. He'll be alright, for now."  
  
"But if that blasted *pirate* couldn't g-"  
  
"Delbert. . ." She narrowed her eyes at him, arching one brow.  
  
Doppler paused, then replied, "Right. . . you're right." He sighed. "It just racks my nerves  
to think that-"  
  
***  
  
"-those blasted bilge-suckin' excuses fer guards could be doin' ANYTHIN' t' the lad!!"   
  
Aaron watched Silver as he worked in the galley. Their first half hour in the small room  
had consisted of muffled coughing and secretive glances at one another. Silver had nothing much  
to say. Aaron had plenty, but was keeping silent for fear of having his neck wrung. Finally the  
silence had been too much, and Aaron mustered up enough courage to speak.  
  
"So. . . you're a cyborg. . ." He paused as Silver turned to look at him.  
  
"Aye?"  
  
"How's, uh. . . how's that workin' out for you?" Aaron suddenly felt a strong urge to  
crawl under the table and die. However, he managed to hold his ground long enough to delve into  
further conversation with the large man that presently occupied the galley with him.  
  
Silver ignored Aaron's question and returned it with one of his own. ". . . . Friend o'  
Jimbo's, are ye?" Aaron gave a slight nod. Silver returned it. "So now we know th' lad can't pick  
'is fights OR 'is friends. . ."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Eh, just thinkin' t' meself."  
  
"Ah."   
  
***  
  
Merriss stood at the helm, utterly and completely bored out of his mind. It had only been  
three or four days since the captain had taken off with, for whatever reason, the two cadets and  
the doctor. It was unusual, to say the least. However, he had no intentions of reading the letter  
that the captain had left for him. It was only to be read in the case that the captain failed to  
contact him within-  
  
". . . Merriss. . . in?" the transmission crackled. Merriss simply stared at the  
communications panel for a moment, then quickly recovered his composure. He flipped on the  
screen, and saw the captain's feline-like face. The doctor was watching nervously from behind  
her, but the static made him all but impossible to see.   
  
Merriss responded. "Aye, Captain! When do y-"  
  
"Not now! W. . . . some trou. . . . afraid we'll. . . late. . ." Merriss strained to catch more  
of the captain's words, but it was no use. The Volitant was too far away, and the signal was just  
too choppy. He could only try to make sense of what little he could hear from the captain's  
transmission. "Minor. . . . nd we're heading n. . . . days, so. . . ."  
  
There was a pause from her, then, "Is . . . clear?"   
  
Now Merriss paused. "Well, actua-"  
  
". . . ry good!"   
  
And the transmission was finished. The captain's face had flipped off into a dark green,  
thrumming electronic pulse. Merriss shook his head slowly and reached to flip off the  
communications panel.  
  
Well, she'd contacted him.  
  
***  
  
Jim sighed. "So. . . here we are. Just waiting for the *real* cops to come, and not a damn  
thing to do about it." He looked up morosely at Morph, who was looking less and less cheerful  
by the second. "So, Morph. . . got any plans?" He expected no answer. He got what he'd  
expected.  
  
"Perfect." He allowed himself to drop backwards onto the dirty mattress on the bed. Eyes  
shut, he exhaled slowly through his nose. This was absolutely hopeless. Unless by some stroke of  
luck the guards called off the reinforcements and then both left and/or died, and Morph knew the  
key code for the exterior lock on the cell, things were looking bad. Ohhh, yes.  
  
Jim sat brooding for a while, allowing his mind to wander. He saw the dark circles of red  
on the hard floor outside and muttered a half-hearted curse to himself. "Jeeze, wasn't even a fair  
fight. Two *big* guys against me? And, I mean, they had *guns*, for-" Jim stopped. They'd had  
guns. The guy that had come in later had used his to knock Jim out, but the other guy. . .   
  
Jim suddenly leapt up off of the cot and then kneeled quickly down again, facing into the  
corner of the cell. He squinted his eyes, but couldn't get anything in the dim light. He sighed  
quickly and then reached forward, groping in the dark for any sign of the flintlock he'd kicked  
into the cell. All he felt was the grime that had collected over the years. There was no sign of- oh,  
jeez, what was *that*?! Had he just put his hand in- ? No. . . no. Jim quickly wiped his hand on  
the dirty mattress and tried not to think about the fact that whatever it was had felt a whole hell of  
a lot like a rotting rodent corpse. He quickly moved on to the next corner.   
  
Here he put his hand down much more cautiously, wanting to avoid any more encounters  
of the necropsy-esque genre. He felt his fingertips graze something lightly. He pulled his hand  
back at first (while thinking, 'If anyone ever finds out that I'm afraid to touch a damned dead  
RAT, I'll shoot myself'), but reached forward slowly again. His fingers came in more direct  
contact with the objects, and he found it to be smooth. Metal and warm, intricately fashioned  
wood. There we go. Jim put his hand around the flintlock and lifted it out of the dark corner. It  
glinted dully in the dim light and was covered in dirt, but to Jim it was the most beautiful work of  
craftsmanship in the world. He particularly liked the trigger. Oh yes.  
  
Morph made his presence known again with a small chirp, but Jim shushed him quickly.  
"Not now, Morph, I'm busy, just hold on a second. . ." Jim quickly wiped away some of the  
grime that had clung to the flintlock, and looked it over. It was a bit bigger than most that he'd  
ever seen (which, truthfully, was none too many), and somewhat heavier. Other than that. . . same  
ol', same ol'. Worked for him. He wrapped his hand around the barrel, testing the weight, and  
decided that he had no real reason to do so. He set it down on the bunk and started pacing,  
wondering how he could use the thing to his advantage. His first thought was that he could call  
the guards in, shoot them, and then shoots a few bars out off of the cell and leave. The lock didn't  
do much except tell the mechanism within when to open the cells, so shooting it off would be  
useless. Jim sighed. He didn't want to kill the guards, either. He was in enough trouble as it was.   
  
'If you're this far in, why not just finish it off?' a small voice flickered like a dim candle  
at the back of his thoughts.   
  
Jim sighed again. His cynicism would never be completely gone, it seemed. Whatever. It  
gave him an advantage. He wouldn't be disappointed. Well. . . not *devastated*, anyway. He  
shook his head and sat down on the cot, knees tucked up to his chin. He glanced down at the  
flintlock and exhaled slowly through his nose, thinking to himself. 'And what-  
  
***  
  
'-am I going to DO,' thought Silver, 'about Jimbo?'   
  
"Dunno. . ."   
  
Silver looked over his shoulder at Aaron, not having realized that he'd been muttering  
under his breath. The scrawny kid had heard him. He rolled his eyes slightly and decided to at  
least put some glimmer of politeness into his response to the boy.  
  
"Eh. . . sorry 'bout that, lad. I were on'y thinkin' t' meself."  
  
"Oh."  
  
'Oh'? What kind of an answer was THAT? Kids these days. . . no manners at all. . .  
'Course, this was a Doppler kid. That lot had about as much sense conversation-wise as they did  
spacing-wise. Which was little. *Very* little. Could shoot, though. How that daft doctor had  
knocked out three or four of Silver's crew with one shot. . . but that was years ago, and-  
  
"So, uh, are we gonna get Jim or what?"  
  
Silver's thoughts were cut off by Aaron's sudden question. "Wh. . . what was that, lad?"  
  
Aaron looked down, embarrassed. "I was just. . . y'know, just wondering if were gonna  
go *get* him. I mean, he's all alone. . . and the cops are coming in soon. . . and if they get to him  
before we do. . ." He shook his head, still looking down. "Sorry 'bout that. Guess I'm just  
worried about. . . ugh." He turned around completely now, his back to Silver.  
  
"Yer friend. Worried 'bout yer friend."  
  
The young canian's muscles tense visibly, and he turned his head slightly back to Silver.  
"Yeah. My. . . yeah."  
  
"Y'aren't good with keepin' friends."  
  
". . . . . No. I, uh, guess I'm not."   
  
Oh, what a surprise. Silver couldn't help but role his eyes slightly. What Jim had seen that  
was worth befriending in this idiot was beyond Silver's comprehension. Be that as it may. . . they  
had to get Jim back, the kid was right. Silver especially owed him one. No way the doc or captain  
would've come without his persuasion. Ha, Jim had potential. Why waste it in a prison cell? Or. .  
. or at the gallows?  
  
"So, lad. Got any ideas?"  
  
"Eh. . ."  
  
"No."  
  
"No."  
  
"Ah."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Eh?"  
  
"Oh, uh. . . no."  
  
"Ah." Silver paused. This conversation was getting them absolutely nowhere, and even if  
the kid's heart was in the right place, he was still a scrawny thing that had no real right to be on a  
ship at all. "So, first we gotta get the cap'n t' turn us 'round, eh?"  
  
Aaron blinked, then nodded, turning around again to face Silver. "Yeah, uh, I guess so."  
  
Silver didn't bother trying to get the kid to say any more. It was obvious that he was not  
the most conversationally-inclined of all creatures in the etherium. That, and he had yet to  
develop the skill of at least making agreeable replies like the doc had. Little git. Silver took off  
his apron and tossed it carelessly onto the counter top, then turned and started heading up the  
shallow stairs to the deck of the Volitant.   
  
***  
  
Jim heard heavy footsteps approaching as he stared glumly at the oversized flintlock lying  
on the small cot next to him. He looked up and then quickly slid the gun under the mattress,  
sitting on the spot where it lay for extra measure. He simply stared out, unsurprised, as one of the  
guards, not the one he'd been fighting, but the big guy that had knocked him out, stopped in front  
of the cell.   
  
"Ey, not so 'igh an' mighty now, are yeh? Not fightin' 'ard now, eh?" He snickered  
stupidly after his remark. Jim struggled not to openly sneer at the guy.   
  
"No, sir."  
  
The guard grinned at this. "Yeah, well, let's keep it that way. Officials'll be 'ere in an  
hour, hour an' a 'alf, maybe."  
  
Jim blinked. "How long was I. . . y'know. . . out?" The guard frowned, and Jim quickly  
added, "Sir." The guard nodded appreciatively.   
  
"Oh, I'd say yeh were out a good. . . twenty, thirty minutes, at least!"  
  
Now Jim struggled not to burst out laughing. Twenty minutes?! You've gotta be kidding.  
Wimp couldn't even keep him under for half an hour. I mean, come on, if you're gonna knock  
someone out, at least do it *well*, right? So it'd have been maybe. . . thirty-five, forty minutes  
since the Volitant had taken off at full burn. They'd probably slowed by now. At absolute top  
speeds, they could be back in half an hour.  
  
Plenty of time.  
  
Right?  
  
*****  
  
Sorry this is cut a bit short. . . but I'm heading off to Colorado for a week, and thought it'd be  
good to get something out. Whoo! 


	14. The Prison Revisted

I finally got my 100th review from. . . WaffleKitty! Thanks, Waffle! *bows*  
  
*****  
  
"Alright, men, this is going to be tricky," Amelia instructed the three 'crew members'  
reluctantly. Hardly a crew at all. A minor, her well-meaning but ultimately clumsy husband, and  
a convicted criminal. Lovely. She looked about the gaggle of half-adequate men and then out at  
the etherium. She'd formulated a small plan in her mind. It was all she could come up with, given  
the time constraints and the pressing situation. They were twenty minutes away from the  
godforsaken little building that now housed two thoroughly irate guards and one young cadet  
whom she was responsible for. It was soon to contain a good four of five more officials. Trained  
officials. Skilled, tra- well, perhaps not *that* skilled, but certainly better than Delbert or his  
nephew. The pirate might be a match for them, but there were no guarantees in this sort of-  
  
"Beggin' yer pardon, Cap'n, but, eh. . . yeh wanted us all here fer a reason?"   
  
Amelia frowned slightly, then looked back to Silver. Yes, she had called them together.  
Her plan wasn't the best, but it would have to do. Her plan was simple, really. But it required  
another fast escape. The four or five guards that would come were sure to be followed by one or  
two more. At least. It was important that the Volitant be long gone by the time those others  
arrived. Who knew what artillery they might bring with them? She sighed and started addressing  
the group again.   
  
"Like I said, this is going to be tricky. We're going to have to intercept several. . . parties,  
in the space of just several moments. One or two at the most."  
  
Doppler fidgeted nervously. "Intercept several parties? Amelia, d- er, Captain, that may  
be a bit more difficult for me- eh, Aaron, than it seems."   
  
"Hey!"   
  
"Shh!" hissed Doppler to Aaron. Aaron began to protest, but Doppler looked back to  
Amelia and cut off the boy with a forced laugh. The feline-like captain was not amused.   
  
"Would you prefer Mr. Hawkins stay in that cell?" She quirked a skeptical eyebrow at  
him. He looked shocked for a moment at how blunt the question was. Silver used the opportunity  
to cut in with his response.  
  
"Jimbo ain't rottin' in no grimy jailhouse!" He took a defensive step towards Amelia. Her  
ears lifted at his sudden speaking up. He hadn't spoken directly to her for nearly two years. And  
the last time he'd done it, he'd been yelling at her to 'get this blasted heap turned 'round'. She  
still got a defensive feeling every time she thought of him calling her Legacy a 'blasted heap', but  
now wasn't the time to get angry at a man that was easily four times her weight and probably a  
good three times her size. Of course, she wouldn't dare show her apprehension at such things.  
Delbert and the boy would see it and immediately surrender to the brute.  
  
Brute? Amelia shook her head. This was the man that she had willingly come to save.  
He'd spared young Hawkins' life several times. Saved it, even. And she was so presumptuous as  
to think him a brute? Well, he was rather- She shook her head again and nodded to the cyborg.  
"Right you are, Mr. Silver." She decided that she could chance an approving (though gruff)  
smile at him. It turned into a smirk at his shocked expression and she turned back to the helm.  
"We'll be arriving shortly. Doctor, you are to use your exemplary skill with firearms-" ("Not all  
that exempl'ry. . ." muttered Silver) "-to stop the incoming authorities."   
  
Doppler recoiled involuntarily. "Ame- er, Captain, I could never bring myself to ki-"  
  
"Don't be ridiculous, Doctor, I mean only for you to fire in such a pattern as would keep  
them at bay, so to speak. Mr. Silver and myself will assure that they stay out of the way," Amelia  
instructed as she kept facing forward at the helm. Aaron stared at the back of her head curiously,  
wondering just what she had in mind. Silver, however, grinned.  
  
"Ah, savin' the good work fer th' man that can *really* get the job done, Cap'n?" He  
winked at her, grinning slyly, but instantly wiped the look off his face. She'd turned around,  
glaring at him once more. She derived some satisfaction from the fact that his eyes flickered  
unsurely for just a moment. "Eh, I were on'y foolin'. . ."  
  
"I'm sure," she said skeptically. Doppler smirked at Silver as Amelia turned back around  
and instantly assumed a much more authoritative tone in her voice. "You and I will render the  
superfluous officers unconscious - gently - secure their limbs to prevent escape, and lock them up  
in their on ships, respectively. If there is only one ship, then so much the better. We are not to  
harm any of them in any way. Am I perfectly clear?"  
  
She turned her head around slightly to see Silver nod reluctantly. "Aye. . . Cap'n."  
  
"Excellent." She nodded once back to him. "Now, this is going to be rather different than  
our last rescue attempt, despite the last's. . . partial success." She paused while working the helm  
and readjusting her footing - you had a tendency to slip backwards slowly without even realizing  
it when the Volitant was going at full speed. "This is going to be difficult. We'll need to find  
three of the incoming authorities with rather. . . specific sizes. . . ."  
  
***  
  
Jim was lying face-down on the putrid bed, arms covering the back of his neck  
defensively. Would've been his head, but he didn't want to touch that gash that the guard had left  
him. He probably looked like a ten-year-old in a meteor shower drill, but he was not inclined to  
GIVE A DAMN. He gritted his teeth and fought back the tears that threatened to spill out of his  
closely-guarded eyes. Your eyes gave away everything, if you let them. Jim had, thus far, been  
good at hiding his emotions. But you can't hide crying. And you can't cry if you want to be taken  
seriously. Not unless it was someone you really trusted. Like your mom, or your. . . or your dad.  
  
Jim sniffled reluctantly. He could hardly believe it, but right now. . . right now he missed  
Leland Hawkins. He didn't hate him. Not now. He just missed him. He was a scared kid, and he  
missed his dad.   
  
The sound of sirens became clearer and clearer as they approached the small building, but  
James Pleiades Hawkins, survivor of a supernova, a black hole, a pirate mutiny, and an exploding  
planet barely noticed. He was crying into his mattress because he missed his dad.  
  
***  
  
"Gettin' there soon?"  
  
"Yeah, just shut up for a while, alright? Jeez. . ."  
  
"Alright, alright. . ." Reanning flicked at a tassel on his uniform, bored out of his mind.  
They had been called in to some stupid assignment to pick up some. . . kid. The damned idiots at  
post 51-C had been so proud that they'd caught the shrimp, too. It was a teenaged kid, for Flint's  
sake! Those guys had always been morons. He shook his head and sighed. "Kid was probably  
just visiting that pirate they were keepin' out there. . . wanted to tell his friends a story. . ."  
  
***  
  
"We haven't heard from them. . . haven't heard a REPORT of them. . . haven't gotten a  
LETTER from them. . ." Sarah Hawkins scrubbed at the pot that she was currently at work on  
with clenched teeth. She had continually been scrubbing harder and harder as she talked to  
herself. She looked down at the pot and realized that she'd been washing the same one for a good  
twenty minutes. It was immaculately spotless. Sarah sighed and dropped it back into the sudsy  
water, wiping her hands on her apron as she turned back to look at the dark dining room. It was  
late, and the only moving thing she saw was B.E.N., moving around the room as he swept up the  
food that had somehow found its way to the floor. He looked up from his work.  
  
"Somethin' eattin' at ya, Mrs. H?" His blue eyes glowed from the dimly-lit room. He was  
standing by the window, sweeping up near the table that Delbert had sat at so much. Delbert and  
Amelia and their children (who were currently upstairs, asleep). Sarah rubbed the back of her  
neck and looked around the room, remembering that day that the constables had walked in the  
door for the who-knew-how-many?-eth time, and stepped aside. . . and Jim had been there, in his  
uniform. Changed, but still the same. All grown-up, but still her little boy. She wiped at her face  
with the heel of her hand, knowing how B.E.N. got when he saw her cry.  
  
"No, B.E.N., no. I'm fine. I was just thinking about Jim, and. . . I'm fine." She sniffled,  
blew her nose into her apron, and turned away. B.E.N. frowned slightly and walked over, his  
gears squeaking slightly in want of oil.   
  
"Aww, Mrs. H, Jimmy's okay! Jimmy and Doc and Cap'n!" He grinned shakily, but  
Sarah kept her back to him, head down, as she worked at the dishes. B.E.N. returned to his frown  
for a moment, then put a hand on her shoulder. "Uh. . . don't worry, Mrs. H. . . s'okay. . ." His  
glowing, blue eyes widened when Sarah suddenly turned, threw her arms around his neck for  
support, and began sobbing into his shoulder.  
  
***  
  
"Alright. Everyone clear?" Amelia looked around at the three. Doppler and Aaron  
nodded, and Silver added his own 'aye'. Amelia nodded approvingly to the lot and took a deep  
breath. The Volitant was a moment's distance from the prison once more. As the came up,  
Amelia sighed with relief as she saw that there were neither guards outside nor additional  
reinforcements on the small dock. They'd been fast enough. More likely than not, though, just  
barely. She pulled the Volitant into the dock.   
  
"Alright. Young Doppler, you know where you are to stay?"   
  
Aaron nodded, keeping his eyes on the deck. He was a little more than 'pretty upset' that  
he didn't get to go back into the prison and rub this in that guard's face. "Yeah, I stay on the ship,  
hidden, until I get the signal, when I start powering up the solar sails and get the thrusters ready  
to go. I know, I know. . ."  
  
"Very good. Now, gentlemen. . ." She looked at Doppler and Silver, who both  
surprisingly straightened up when she addressed them. She looked to the dock and executed a  
polite 'after-you' motion, a small smirk on her face. Doppler and Silver glanced at each other in a  
moment of companionship in their embarrassment, and turned to head down the gangplank  
quickly. Amelia noted Silver's cybernetic arm revolving into a flintlock and nodded again. The  
man did have some brains about him, that was certain. She laughed a bit in surprise when she  
noticed Delbert pulling a flintlock of his own out of one of the inner pockets of his coat. She'd  
underestimated her dear husband, it seemed. She leapt lightly out of the Volitant, giving a quick  
salute to Aaron as she disappeared over the edge. She landed lightly on the dock next to Delbert  
and Silver and they all settled into position outside of the entrance to the small jailhouse.   
  
***  
  
Jim lifted his head as one of the guards walked by quickly. He heard shuffling footsteps  
and low voices, but he couldn't make out any words. There was definitely a tone of excitement to  
the speech, though. No doubt about it. Bad news for him. He sat up and rubbed his eyes quickly.  
He wasn't going to let them see that he'd been crying. Not a chance. He shook his head  
(carefully) and looked up again. He didn't want to walk to the bars of his cell, but. . . he was  
curious, dammit. He contented himself to sit stock-still and listen as best he could. Having no  
success in this, he stood up and began pacing.   
  
There had been no sign of Silver, Doc, or anyone, yet. And there was probably no more  
than ten minutes until the other cops came. Cops that could probably keep Jim out for a little  
longer than half an hour. Jim sighed and touched the back of his head, making a face of disgust  
when he felt that the blood had dried in his hair, making it hard and prickly. It wouldn't be so  
prickly if it wasn't so damn short, but the academy did have rules. Jim sighed and examined the  
spot carefully with his fingertips for a moment, then put his hands in his lap an leaned forward,  
allowing his mind to wander for a while.  
  
He remembered Treasure Planet so clearly. . . he always would, too, he supposed. It was  
hard to forget something like that. He'd remember the crew, and all of their habits, and of course  
he'd remember Doc and Amelia, and how they'd. . . y'know. He shifted on the dingy mattress  
and managed to smile a little. And then he remembered that party. . . to celebrate his acceptance  
into the academy. His smile widened, but it was a sad smile now. Having the constables bring  
him in had been his idea. And his mom's face had just lit up when they rolled aside. . . . Jim  
sniffled again and wiped at his eyes quickly, sitting up once more.   
  
Morph had been keeping pretty quiet, which suited Jim just fine. Better the guards not  
know that Jim had a friend in here with him. He supposed they'd find out sooner or later, but  
why not enjoy it while he could? He fell back down onto the mattress and felt the lump of the  
flintlock under it. That put some comfort in his mind, too. Just knowing he had it was good  
enough, he guessed. Couldn't make much use of it at the moment, but a gun was a gun.  
  
Jim stroked Morph a little bit before turning his head away and closing his eyes, trying to  
block out the excited voices of the guards. They were getting louder and louder. Despite his  
trying to block them out, Jim managed to catch the words, "Here they-"  
  
***  
  
"-come!" whispered Doppler anxiously.   
  
"Shut yer yap, ya lubber," hissed Silver quickly. Doppler frowned but nodded and looked  
back to the approaching ship, raising his flintlock defensively. The cruiser ship came in, small  
and sleek, pulling into the designated dock with a fluid grace that was slightly intimidating.  
Doppler was about to comment on this, but when his eyes fell to where Amelia had been hiding,  
he frowned.   
  
'Now where did she-'   
  
"Ah, you got yerself a smart'un, Dops," Silver allowed a hushed laugh as he kept his eyes  
trained around the docking ship.  
  
"What do you mean, I go-" Doppler stopped, having seen exactly what it was that Silver  
had been watching. Amelia had crept up to the ship and pressed herself against it, one ear rested  
on the port side, back near the stern. Doppler caught a glimmer of a smirk on her face (the  
distance was too great to see more), then smiled himself as she held up four fingers. Four  
authorities on board. Time to get moving.  
  
*****  
  
Thanks to everyone who's been reading up to this point, and an especially big thanks to everyone  
that's been reviewing! 


	15. Shootouts and CrossDressing

Gah, I'm sorry for the incredible lack of updates on this. School's been pushing me pretty hard  
  
lately, but once summer gets here I'll have a lot more time to write. Hopefully updates will be  
  
coming faster right now, too, though.  
  
*****  
  
Reanning stepped out of the ship casually, not really too terribly interested in the task at  
  
hand. He stretched, scratching his sides and then behind his ear. His dog-like nose sniffed at the  
  
air unconsciously, caught a few mixed scents, and dismissed the incoming data without a second  
  
thought. He turned to look at the three other officers stepping off of the cruiser.  
  
***  
  
Amelia stared pointedly at the thin Canian officer that had stepped off of the ship. She  
  
was, in truth, quite relieved that she'd heard no robo-constables on board. They generally  
  
couldn't be trusted on long space flights, being made more for inner-planetary etherial  
  
conditions, but. . . it was simply better that they weren't here. Each and every one of them was  
  
loaded with surveillance equipment.   
  
  
  
Doppler tilted his head to one side, watching Amelia's actions curiously. She seemed to  
  
be looking at that one guard that had just stepped off, and. . . He glanced back to the thin Canian  
  
guard and a look of understanding dawned on his face. He nodded quickly and raised his pistol a  
  
bit. Silver was eyeing a heavyset Terran that had just stepped off of the vessel. Their bone  
  
structures were slightly different, but Silver had other things to worry about besides loose  
  
trousers.   
  
Then off the ship came a Tuskrus, tentacle-like legs slithering disturbingly down the short  
  
gangplank. Amelia sighed. Well, he'd be useless. She. No, it was a he. . . . maybe. It was hard to  
  
tell with this particularly. . . androgynous species. It didn't matter much. The Tuskrus would be  
  
the only one keeping his uniform today. Amelia smirked a bit as she watched the last officer,  
  
another Terran male (though much more lightly-built than the first) stepped to the dock. That  
  
would be Amelia's man.   
  
Doppler and Silver waited, hidden by the doorway for Amelia to make her appearance.  
  
She looked about ready to come out from under the ship, but paused to straighten her dress  
  
(which, she could hardly believe, she had managed to keep on), and cleared her throat. All four of  
  
the officers jumped and turned to face her quickly. She smiled pleasantly at them and took a  
  
somewhat-cautious step forward. "Gentlemen. . ." she nodded to the courteously.   
  
The four stared at her suspiciously, then suddenly the Canian, Reanning, sprang into  
  
consciousness once more. He stepped over to Amelia, took her hand in both of his, kissed it, and  
  
looked up at her. "To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing such a lady as yourself in this  
  
particular parsec, ma'am?"  
  
Amelia paused, glanced at Doppler (who was looking a bit defensive), then replied to the  
  
officer, "I was coming to look for a friend, sirs." She looked around at the group. "Heard he'd  
  
gotten himself into a spot of trouble."  
  
"If it's that pirate, yer lookin' in the wrong spot. 'E took off this mornin', not two hours  
  
ago, ma'am," replied the Tuskrus in a gravelly voice.  
  
"Yes, I was aware of the pirate's status. . ." said Amelia slowly, the smile on her mouth  
  
curling more and more into a smirk. "I was referring to the boy."  
  
"Ma'am, the boy ain't s'posed t' be gettin' no visitor. Why, we ain't even to-" The Terran  
  
officer stopped. "We ain't. . . even told no one. . . about the. . ."  
  
Amelia suddenly drew a weapon from a fold in her dress, horrid thing as it was. With the  
  
speed with which she drew the weapon, though, you would've thought the flintlock had simply  
  
materialized in her hand. Three of the officers drew flintlocks and pistols of their own, reacting to  
  
Amelia in the blink of an eye. The Tuskrus had no weapon to draw; it was well-known that the  
  
species had terrible eyesight. They generally used the large horn on their forehead for fighting  
  
and defense. However, it would be no match for this Alurian's gun. The lightly-built Terran  
  
spoke.  
  
"Ma'am, we must ask you to drop your weapon or we'll be forced to-"   
  
He was cut short as his flintlock was seemingly torn violently from his hand. He felt a  
  
strong shock in his palm and looked over his shoulder quickly, ignoring the other Terran and the  
  
Canian's shouts of surprise as the Canian's gun was knocked from his own hand and the other  
  
Terran's was kicked away by the Alurian. He spotted two men, one scrawny-looking and the  
  
other much more sturdily built. He didn't fail to notice the wispy trails of used energy floating  
  
from the barrel of the flintlocks in their hands, even from this distance. He spotted his own gun  
  
lying on the dock and began to read toward it quickly, but it was suddenly gone, a blast from the  
  
Alurian's flintlock knocking it abruptly away. The Terran officer looked up furiously.   
  
"Just who do you think you ARE?!" he demanded of the catlike woman. The other three  
  
guards watched this unexpected enemy nervously, their eyes trained on her firearm (though  
  
Reanning's eyes did keep. . . wandering, a bit).   
  
"Who do I think I am?" Amelia's slight smirk remained as she glanced over at Silver and  
  
Delbert quickly. Both wore approving grins. "I believe, sir, that I am. . ." -she glanced at his  
  
badge, pinned smartly to the left side of his chest- ". . . Officer D. Trausch, fourth division, troop  
  
E." She smiled primly.   
  
"Wh- but-" the officer looked somewhat confused, then a look of horror appeared on his  
  
face. "You can't be-"  
  
The Tuskrus chose this moment to roar angrily (a somewhat unprofessional line of action,  
  
Amelia noted). She started to jump back, but was too slow and knocked violently in the side by  
  
the officer's fierce swinging blow.   
  
***  
  
  
  
Jim paced back and forth in his cell quickly. They were here. Ohhh, jeez, they were here.  
  
They were here and Silver and Doc and the captain WEREN'T here. This was bad. Jim had stuck  
  
the flintlock into his belt (first making sure it was loaded with the safety on, of course; no use in  
  
being careless), after deciding that it'd be of more use there than it would stuffed under his  
  
mattress. But man, he was nervous. What were they going to do to him? Take him to big prison  
  
back on Montressor? Mom had always been complaining about living to close to that big place  
  
with 'all those criminals'. . . but Jim was still a minor so they would take him to Juvenile Hall,  
  
first. He frowned as he paced. Juvenile Hall now, after all he'd done, and this time it wasn't for  
  
speeding in a restricted area. It was for assisting in the escape of a 'dangerous criminal'. Probably  
  
assault on the guard. And whatever other charges they could pin him with.   
  
Yay.  
  
***  
  
Doppler stood up instantly, a look of defensive fury (that even Silver actually found  
  
somewhat threatening) on his face. One eye was squinted to a narrow slit while the other stared  
  
down the barrel of his flintlock. His teeth were bared furiously and his index finger was putting  
  
just enough pressure on the trigger to pose a serious threat to whoever was in the Doctor's sights  
  
down the barrel. Silver looked up at Doppler, then at the Tuskrus, alarmed. "Doc, w-"  
  
Doppler applied the last bit of pressure to the trigger and a beam of deep purple-blue  
  
energy issued from the weapon. Silver winced and shielded himself from the report with his  
  
cybernetic arm. He began to lower his arm, but Doppler fired again, and the arm quickly went  
  
back up. There were three more shots, and then a pause in which Silver heard only Doppler's  
  
panting breath. He looked up, afraid of what he might see (he was sure it would include the dead  
  
bodies of several guards). He paused, then burst out laughing. Amelia was standing up, none the  
  
worse for wear, smirking a bit at the officers. Doppler had fired several shots around them,  
  
drawing them into a tight circle, practically clinging to each other in fear of being hit. Doppler  
  
grinned, satisfied with his handiwork, and Silver looked toward the Volitant as he heard an  
  
appreciative whistle. Aaron was leaning forward in the bow, applauding his uncle and laughing  
  
along with Silver at the officers' newfound timidity.  
  
***  
  
One of the guards sat leaned back in a small chair, still smirking whenever he thought  
  
about landing a blow on that punk kid's head. He'd always hated kids. His counterpart was  
  
pacing a bit.  
  
"They been undocking fer a long time, eh?" He turned a sharp corner and walked back  
  
across the room. "Been sittin' in port too long, I 'spect." There was a light knocking on the door,  
  
and he nodded. "Ah, that'll be them now."   
  
The guard that had been sitting stood up, straightened his coat, and watched as his shift  
  
mate opened the door. There was a lightly-built officer standing there, looking a bit gruff, despite  
  
the fact that she was a female. It occurred to both of the guards that this was not a woman that  
  
one would want to cross. He sharp glare told them all they needed to know. Followed by this  
  
woman (Alurian being her species) was another officer, also lightly built, but obviously  
  
masculine. If you could call it that. The guy was scrawny. The guards noted that both of their  
  
faces seemed a bit downturned, but neither thought much of it. Sometimes you just get types like  
  
that. Didn't mean much of anything, generally.  
  
***  
  
It'd turned out that Silver would have to stay with Aaron on the police cruiser. They'd  
  
tied up the officers and locked them into the small cabin below deck. Silver was still a bit put off  
  
that he couldn't be in with the doctor and captain, breaking Jim out, but as they were tying up the  
  
guards Amelia had noted that his cybernetic arm would probably be just a tad familiar. He'd had  
  
to agree, of course. They had to get Jim out, with or without him. But still. . .  
  
"So. . . think they'll make it?" Aaron asked quietly, looking down at the wooden planked  
  
deck of the cruiser. He looked up at Silver a bit cautiously. Silver put on a gruff look of 'how-  
  
dare-you-ask-such-a-thing?' but nodded.  
  
"Well, o' course they'll make it, lad! This is th' cap'n and doc and Jimbo we're talkin'  
  
about! Why, they made it out o' one o' me own mutinies!" Aaron's eyes widened in shock at the  
  
mention of Silver's mutinies. Silver quickly raised his hands a bit to make a calming down  
  
motion. "But, o' course I put them days behind me! It's straight sailin' fer this 'ere cyborg, from  
  
now on."  
  
Aaron nodded, one eyebrow still raised suspiciously. "Yeah. . . well, all I've got to go on  
  
is what Jim says. So I guess I've got to trust you."  
  
Silver fought the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose to fight off the oncoming headache.  
  
'I guess I've got to trust you'? How melodramatic could you get? He sighed a bit. "That's right,  
  
lad. If yeh want t' get out of here alive." He smirked as Aaron's face paled considerably. Served  
  
the little bugger right. Maybe waiting for Cap'n and Doc wouldn't be SO bad. . .  
  
***  
  
Amelia and Doppler glanced at each other, still keeping their faces low. They both turned  
  
back to the guards. Doppler noted Amelia's arms crossed behind her back, her position that she  
  
took when she wanted her authority to be known. He copied it, trying to match her own  
  
demeanor of 'obey me or die'. He felt that his mimicry was somewhat lacking, but his attention  
  
was drawn back to the situation at hand as one of the guards spoke.  
  
"Identification?" the guard asked gruffly. Amelia nodded to him and unpinned her badge  
  
neatly, holding it out for the guard to see clearly. After a moment of inspection, the guard nodded  
  
and handed it back to Amelia. "Trausch, eh? Heard 'bout you a while back." Amelia looked  
  
nervous for a moment, then only nodded. Doppler handed his badge to the guard and received the  
  
same results.   
  
"Alright then!" the other guard piped up. "We'll take yeh fine gents-" he stopped at  
  
Amelia's look. " -and lady. . . back t' th' pris'ner!"  
  
Amelia and Doppler exchanged glances once more, then followed the guards through the  
  
door at the back of the room into the cell block.  
  
***   
  
Jim's fingers trailed to the place where his flintlock was slipped under his belt. Would he  
  
really have to use it? He felt shaky. He doubted he'd be able to hit anyone if he wanted to, with  
  
his aim the way it was. He shook his head and walked back to the bars of the cell, wanting to see  
  
if he could catch a glimpse of the officers that were coming in. But the doorway was on the same  
  
wall as his cell, and he couldn't see anything, no matter how hard he felt like pushing his head  
  
against the metal bars. Smart, Jim. Smart. Stars blinked in front of his eyes as a twinge of pain  
  
shot through his head. His hand went back to the place where the guard had smacked him. The  
  
jerk.   
  
Resigning himself to waiting, Jim sat back on his bunk. He hugged his knees to his chest  
  
for just a second, then put his legs back down. No use in acting like a kid. Not now, when he was  
  
going to have to. . . grow up a little. He looked up as he heard voices at the end of the cell block.  
  
He straightened up, his mind flicking back to the flintlock every now and then.   
  
Yep. Time to grow up.  
  
***  
  
"So. . . they're taking a while, huh?" Aaron laughed nervously and paced a bit in the  
  
small room, his eyes fixed intently on the ground.   
  
"If yeh consider five minutes a long time. . ."  
  
"I mean, it's an in-and-out kind of thing, right? They wouldn't want to take a long time,"  
  
Aaron continued, seemingly unaffected by Silver's sarcastic reply. "What if the guards caught  
  
them? What if they realized? Wh-"  
  
"What if they're FINE?" asked Silver sternly. "Lad, no offense meant, but you're bearin'  
  
a strikin' resemblance t' yer uncle, an' that ain't necessarily a good t'ing."  
  
Aaron blinked in response. Silver shook his head a bit with a slight roll of his eyes and  
  
leaned on the side of the small ship. Suddenly the doc and captain DID seem to be taking a long  
  
time. . .  
  
"Yeah, well. . . we'd better be ready to go, huh? Get out of here fast? Right?" Aaron  
  
questioned tentatively. Silver rolled his eyes once more.   
  
"They'll have plenty o' time." He faced a small internal struggle, then clapped a hand on  
  
Aaron's thin shoulder. The poor kid looked downright shell-shocked. His eyes became wide in  
  
his head as he looked first down at Silver's hand, then up at Silver himself. He smiled a bit  
  
cautiously, then nodded.   
  
"Yeah. . . yeah, okay." Aaron even managed to force out a weak laugh. "They'll be fine.  
  
Right." Silver nodded once and Aaron's smile became a bit more genuine. Maybe this cyborg  
  
guy wasn't so bad. Maybe Jim had been-  
  
***  
  
"Right," Jim assured himself. "Time to get ready. . ." He took a deep breath and sat at an  
  
uneasy posture on the small bunk. His hands pressed into the thin mattress, ready to push him off  
  
at a moment's notice. Jim had formulated only one plan in his head thus far. If he got a chance,  
  
he'd break and run. But not unless it was wide open. He'd. . . he'd have to. . .   
  
Who the hell was he kidding?   
  
Jim figured he might as well dump the flintlock right now to prevent trouble later. He  
  
could shove it under the mattress again and forget he'd ever had it on him. All that would come  
  
of him having it would be a few more years in prison. Which was just what he needed. 'Hey,  
  
everyone, guess what? I got another couple a' years added on for concealed weapons! Great,  
  
huh?' Haha. Funny.   
  
Right.  
  
Oh good, footsteps and muttering. Classic elements of any suspenseful tale. Jim lifted his  
  
head slightly to listen, then crossed his arms in front of his chest and kept his face tilted  
  
downward, an appropriate scowl set into his features. Yeah, they could take him to trial, but he  
  
wouldn't like it. That's what the scowl said. What a threat, coming from an incarcerated  
  
seventeen-year-old who had basically screwed himself into oblivion. Well, we get what we  
  
deserve. Make the best of it.  
  
Jim lifted only his eyes to knee-level of the four figures that had stopped in front of his  
  
cell. So much for making the best of it. He sized up the officers (to the extent that one can,  
  
having one's judgement based on a from-the-knees-down view) and was surprised that he found  
  
himself first deciding that one was a little on the scrawny side, and the other, a female, was  
  
probably on the attractively curvy side. Secondly he decided that finding an officer's calves  
  
attractive was moderately disturbing.   
  
"You look up t' yer s'periors, now, kid," growled one of the guards (both of whom were  
  
standing behind the officers that had come in).   
  
Jim sighed (silently), and reluctantly raised his eyes. As soon as they'd come to mid-torso  
  
on the 'officers', Jim's whole head shot up. He gaped openly for the time period of about two  
  
seconds, and then he shook his head just slightly and replaced his shocked expression with one of  
  
mild annoyance. He couldn't help but let a slight smile of utter and total relief tug on the corners   
  
of his mouth, though, when he looked at the faces of the two figures standing in front of the  
  
guards. He never thought he'd be so happy to see Doc and Amelia.  
  
"I think it's about time we got you out of here," Amelia said with a slight wink. Jim used  
  
all of his self-control not to burst out laughing. From the look on Doppler's face, he was having  
  
the same problem. Jim could hardly believe his luck. He was getting out. They'd come back for  
  
him. It was. . . unbelievable.  
  
His joy was shattered when he remembered that he'd thought of Amelia as being 'on the  
  
attractively curvy side'.  
  
*****  
  
THERE. There. I did it. It's probably got flaws that will last in your memories forever because it  
  
was so blatantly flaw-filled, but I just needed to get something out. It had to be done. 


	16. Witty Chapter Title Here

"There, there, Missis H! I know just how ya feel! All alone. . . your only son out with Doc  
  
and Captain bustin' some pirate outta jail. . . running an inn after your husb-" he paused. "Heh,  
  
guess I have no idea how ya feel. But I know that you're upset! So. . . don't be!" B.E.N. grinned  
  
brightly, and obviously he considered this the proper method of condolence. Sarah looked up at  
  
him from the table at which she'd been sitting and managed a weak smile.  
  
"All right, B.E.N.. I won't be upset."   
  
"There ya go!"   
  
"How's the litter been?" Sarah actually laughed a bit as she said this. B.E.N. had been  
  
worn nearly to exhaustion with those kids. His automatic shutdowns (what Sarah supposed was  
  
the robotic version of naps) were coming more and more often lately, and he'd already needed to  
  
be recharged twice. Sarah didn't fail to notice that B.E.N. was also 'allowing' her to take care of  
  
the children for him a bit more frequently than he had been just a week ago.   
  
"Phew," B.E.N. laughed a little uneasily. "They're ENERGETIC!" He added quickly,  
  
"Not that I'm havin' trouble keepin' up, I mean. . ."  
  
Sarah only chuckled and lifted herself from her seat. B.E.N. was, if nothing else, a nice  
  
distraction from the thought of what was going on with Jim and the Dopplers. She pulled herself  
  
a bit wearily up the stairs, walked at a measuredly slow pace down the upstairs hall, and sighed  
  
heavily as she opened the door to the room housing the two cribs and a few toys. None of them  
  
had ever belonged to Jim. Jim's had been lost in the fire. . . and. . .  
  
Sarah shuddered as she felt tears welling in her eyes.  
  
***  
  
Jim was on his feet in an instant. Amelia nodded and motioned for Doppler to enter the  
  
code on the lock. He fumbled with a slip of paper from his pocket (which Jim assumed had the  
  
code written on it), and pressed buttons in much more rapid succession than he had when freeing  
  
Silver. Jim did notice, though, that throughout the whole brief span, Doppler was looking over  
  
his shoulder nervously. Amelia's ears tended to twitch a bit more than usual, but other than that,  
  
she gave no sign of being nervous.   
  
The metal bars began to slide to the side. As soon as the opening was large enough, Jim  
  
was out. He had probably spent no more than an hour and a half in there, but from the inside of a  
  
jail cell, Jim thought to himself, an hour and a half could seem just a little less than an eternity.  
  
And damned if it didn't smell terrible in there.  
  
Amelia quickly placed handcuffs around Jim's wrists. Jim looked a bit bewildered, but  
  
Doppler quickly whispered, "Just to make it look real Jim, no need to worry. . ."  
  
Jim felt that he could heavily disagree and that in fact, Doctor, there was quite a BIT of  
  
need to worry. The feeling of handcuffs had been experienced by Jim only once before, when he  
  
had been caught breaking into the old scrap yard to see if he could find anything that would  
  
improve his solar surfer's performance. He had been fourteen when that'd happened. The  
  
memory of his mother's face when she saw him. . . God, had he felt worthless on THAT day.  
  
Either way, though, Jim took the handcuffs on his wrists without further complaint.   
  
"Very good," said Amelia quickly. "Now, we'll be off." She and Doppler each put a hand  
  
on Jim's shoulder, and Jim didn't fail to notice that they both had their weapons drawn and tilted  
  
slightly towards Jim's head. While that wasn't comforting, considering Doppler's nerves, he  
  
figured it'd be a bit less conspicuous than Doppler and Amelia walking around with guns pointed  
  
outward, looking like they expected an ambush to pop out of every doorway. Which, of course,  
  
they did.  
  
And now they were stepping off of the cell block. The light was substantially brighter  
  
here in the front room, and Jim blinked once or twice at the sudden change. It was even brighter  
  
outside, as they pushed through the doors, but Jim could still see, through the purple-green-white  
  
flashing spots in front of his eyes, the Volitant. Had there ever been a more lovely ship than the  
  
dear little Volitant? Not in a million years.  
  
Doppler and Amelia quickened their pace with Jim, and now Amelia's head was turning  
  
to match the flicking of her ears. She was listening. Her eyes narrowed for a moment as the three  
  
approached the dock, then she suddenly pulled Jim and Doppler down with her. "DOWN!"  
  
The three ducked as hissing sound of a blast from a flintlock came dangerously close to  
  
them, and they could hear the fizzling melting sound of it striking at the hull of a ship. Amelia  
  
whirled around and drew in a sharp breath, causing her to hiss slightly. She fired once, twice, hit  
  
nothing, then pulled the two males onto a small extension of the dock between two ships. She  
  
herself looked around the corner. "When I say run. . ." she whispered at length, "you must go."  
  
She paused, then suddenly pulled out her gun again and let off three quick shots. "NOW! RUN!"   
  
Jim and Doppler didn't need telling twice. Jim had bolted the second he saw Amelia's  
  
mouth open to speak. As he pulled out he had seen the form of the two guards, hunkered down  
  
and waiting for the opportune moment to fire at the three once more.   
  
Amelia followed Jim and Doppler out from between the ships, firing twice over her  
  
shoulder as she ran. Then the fire opened up on them again. Amelia pulled Jim and Doppler  
  
between two ships once more. There were now three ships between them and the Volitant.  
  
Amelia was firing a bit sporadically as she looked around the front edge of the hull of the ship,  
  
keeping the guards from approaching.   
  
Jim, meanwhile, was considering how much he would love to be rid of these damned  
  
handcuffs. They made it nearly impossible to run without stumbling. Oh, w-  
  
"YAAHH!"   
  
Amelia had leapt onto the ship that Jim and Doppler were hiding behind, run across the  
  
small deck, and jumped over the opposite side to land next to Jim. She looked out and around  
  
then quickly pulled Jim and Doppler around another hull, flintlock blasts buzzing dangerously  
  
close to them. The three of them were panting by this time, and were easily audible in the silence.  
  
The blasts had stopped and Amelia was slowly, slowly poking her head around the hull. She let  
  
out a quiet 'oh!' of surprise and pulled her head back in quickly as another shot flew past. She  
  
held up her hands to Jim and Doppler. "Wait."  
  
***  
  
Silver sat up suddenly in his seat. He stood and started heading cautiously up the stairs.  
  
Aaron could only watch him for a moment before he blurted out, "What are you doing?!"   
  
Silver sighed with mild indignation. He turned his head as he continued walking and  
  
explained, "I'm takin' a look 'round. I t'ink I hear somet'in'. You just sit t WOAH!" Silver  
  
ducked back down, breathing heavily. "They're comin'! We gotta get up on deck!"  
  
"Why?!"  
  
"Gotta keep them guards away, from the Volitant, lad! What'a'ya t'ink they'll do if they  
  
see th' same ship makin' berth 'ere again! Board 'er, that's what!" Silver's cybernetic arm  
  
clicked into a blowtorch and Aaron's eyes widened. Silver went to work on a metal case that was  
  
installed in a panel on the wall, cutting away the lock on the exterior with the blue flame. As the  
  
lock came off, the panel swung open, revealing several large police-issue muskets. Silver  
  
grabbed one and tossed it to Aaron, who nearly dropped it.   
  
"What am I supposed to do with THIS?!"  
  
"Protect yerself!" Silver replied quickly, the blowtorch tucking back into its metal casing  
  
and the flintlock in Silver's arm emerging and clicking into position. Silver cocked the hammer  
  
and grinned a bit. "Can't leave Doc, Cap'n, an' Jim to fend fer themselves, can we? Aye, we best  
  
be off!" He walked quickly up the stairs, emerging onto the deck.   
  
Looking straight off the bow, Silver saw the shack of a prison itself. The police cruiser  
  
was anchored at the space furthest on the right, facing the prison. The Volitant was down to the  
  
left a ways, and rather nearer to him, but still on his left, Silver saw the guards slowly making  
  
their way towards The Volitant. Every now and then Amelia's head and arm poked out from  
  
behind the hull of a ship between the guards and the Volitant and she would lay a round of shots  
  
on them, forcing them to duck behind another ship. Jim and Doppler would then take that  
  
opportunity to cross around another hull and Amelia would quickly follow them. Their progress  
  
was slow, and as Silver watched, he got rid of his flintlock and pulled out his much more high-  
  
powered weapon, reaching down and attaching the piece from his cybernetic knee. Aaron came  
  
up behind Silver and watched the unfolding scene below in fascination.   
  
"Time to go?"  
  
"Aye."  
  
"Great."  
  
Aaron and Silver climbed carefully over the side of the ship (Silver with markedly more  
  
difficulty than Aaron), and crept slowly along behind the guards, who took no notice of them at  
  
all.   
  
***  
  
One ship to go now. Once they made it across another hull they could climb up into the  
  
Volitant and would be safe. Home free. Jim felt like skipping.   
  
However, present circumstances prevented him from doing so.  
  
A few more shots flew past. Jim, Doppler, and Amelia were all crouched low, waiting for  
  
an opportunity to make a break for it. Suddenly a massive beam of energy passed by outside and  
  
three sets of eyes widened.   
  
Amelia hissed in a whisper, "They can't possibly have gotten a--"  
  
"Silver!" shouted Doppler.   
  
A grin cracked on Jim's face. The guards were shouting now, and the loud crackling  
  
noise of Silver's massive gun could be heard going off amongst a volley of smaller gunshots.  
  
There was another gun being fired now, too. A musket. Jim shook his head and dared to laugh  
  
just a bit. That had to have been Aaron (though, where he got a musket from was anyone's guess,  
  
Jim supposed).  
  
***  
  
A large beam of energy flew over the guards heads, shooting away into nothing, the  
  
fading. They both started and turned around to find the source. The cyborg.   
  
"Silver!" snarled one of the guards. "Thought we'd taken care o' the likes o' YOU!"  
  
"Aye, well, yeh don't do much t'inkin', do yeh, eh? Jus' need t' practice, don' worry,  
  
you'll get better," Silver replied with a smirk. "Care to fire tha' wee popgun yeh got there?"   
  
The guard apparently did, because he fired two shots at Silver. He hardly noticed Aaron,  
  
who was struggling not to scream in absolute confusion and shock. Silver grabbed Aaron by the  
  
scruff of his neck and pulled him behind the hull of the ship next to the police cruiser.   
  
"All righ', lad, now's the time t' use that there gun, savvy?" (A/N: HAHA, JUST  
  
KIDDING! My wit amazes you, eh?)  
  
Aaron nodded and looked at his musket for a moment before cocking it and looking up at  
  
Silver. "Ready."  
  
Silver nodded once. "Aye, that's a good lad. Now, off we go!" He dragged Aaron with  
  
him, and to Aaron's surprise and shock, started running straight for the guards, yelling something  
  
unintelligible, but that Aaron supposed was some sort of hideous threat of death.  
  
The guards again looked behind them, surprised, and dove between two ships. Silver  
  
paused to fire a few blasts above their heads and Aaron added one or two of his own, just to  
  
make a point, then both continued running past again. They leapt between two ships when shots  
  
were fired behind them again.   
  
Silver and Aaron looked out then turned around slowly to see Jim, Doppler, and Amelia,  
  
all staring wide-eyed at the two. Silver bowed in greeting. "Jimbo. Doc. Cap'n. Cap'n, you  
  
certainly are in your prime, I must sa-"  
  
"Save it, Silver." Amelia stood up and glanced around the hull of the ship. "They're  
  
coming!" She fired two shots, glanced about again, then went out in full view to fire at the  
  
guards. Silver came out behind her and added his own firepower. Jim, Doppler, and Aaron ran  
  
around the hull of the last ship between them and the Volitant and Silver and Amelia  
  
immediately followed. Amelia leapt up over the side instantly, pulling up Jim then Aaron. Jim  
  
and Aaron helped Doppler into the ship as Amelia dropped the gangplank for Silver then quickly  
  
ran to the helm. "Doctor, take the controls! Silver, keep the guards back! Hawkins! Young  
  
Doppler! Attend to the sails, and get a--  
  
***  
  
"--move on!!" shouted the leading guard to the other, who was still crouching between  
  
the two ships. "We'll be killed ourselves if we manage to lose another one!"  
  
"Yer mad! I ain't goin' out there! Silver would shoot yer brains right out of yer head, if  
  
yeh had any t' begin with!"  
  
"Nah, look! 'E's stopped, n--"  
  
Another blast flew over his head and he leapt quickly between the two ships next to his  
  
partner.  
  
"You was sayin'?"   
  
"Stuff it."  
  
***  
  
"Do you suppose they're on their way home now?" wondered Sarah, looking out the  
  
window at the afternoon clouds and wringing her skirt in her hands. B.E.N. stood behind her with  
  
the blonde and brunette kittens and the puppy in his arms. The redheaded kitten sat complacently  
  
atop his head.   
  
"Ah, I'm sure they're doin' great, Missis. H, nothing to worry about!" B.E.N. replied  
  
happily. "I bet it all went according to plan, and they're flyin' home now! You know our Jimmy  
  
and Doc!"  
  
Sarah suddenly felt rather ill.  
  
***  
  
The Volitant rose into the air with a rushed grace. Amelia nodded to Doppler and he  
  
switched on the main thrusters. Jim leaned out over the port side of the ship, grinning a bit as the  
  
Volitant turned starboard at Amelia's hands. Aaron stood back a bit, leaning onto the mast,  
  
bracing himself for the acceleration. Amelia was apparently taking it slowly at first, preparing to  
  
speed up after they were away from the docks. Jim and Doppler both watched, Doppler a bit  
  
more timidly than Jim, as the line of ships passed by. Most were empty and had been for some  
  
time. Jim looked back to Doppler.  
  
"Doc, I ca--"   
  
"Oh, I can't believe we got you out so easily either, Jim, really is remarkable."  
  
"No, I me--"  
  
"Ah, no need to thank us, really, it had to be done, am I right?"  
  
"Yes, but--"  
  
"Oh, come, now, Jim, we--"  
  
"Doc! No, Doc, just. . ." Jim held up his wrists, showing his handcuffs. The prison was  
  
almost past on the port side of the ship now.  
  
"Oh! Of course! Right, here. . . hold out your arms, would you?" Doppler felt around in  
  
his pockets for the key. "Ah, here it is! Now, arms out!"  
  
Doppler walked over to Jim, holding up the small silver key. Jim head his arms out with a  
  
grin, facing the bow of the ship. He stretched them out fully, turning slightly away from the  
  
docks and prison, saying, "Thanks, Doc. . . yeah, and for breaking me out. Man, I really thought I  
  
was a g--"  
  
There was a bright flash of light in front of Jim and the small sound of something striking  
  
the deck. Jim's left arm was in incredible pain. . . the upper half, of it, at least. . . He turned his  
  
head slowly, his breathing quickening, to look back around at the docks. One of the officers in  
  
the police cruiser had managed to untie himself and had grabbed a musket. . . his aim was  
  
excellent, Jim thought to himself as he heard a soft wet spattering on the deck of the Volitant. He  
  
heard the voices of Doppler and Aaron shouting to him, and suddenly he was lying on his back,  
  
staring up at the passing sky. Doppler and Aaron leaned over him, but their faces were blurry  
  
now. . . Amelia was shouting. . . everyone was shouting. . . Silver was shooting back towards the  
  
docks and then he was shouting, too. . . Jim closed his eyes tightly.  
  
God, that really did hurt.  
  
*****  
  
So much for 'more updates soon', eh? *points to the previous chapter's note* 


End file.
